


Unraveled

by PaperHatCollection



Series: Superegos au [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, jacksepticeye
Genre: He's still sad even with them don't worry, I would never do something like make chase HAPPY in a fic, chase brody as spider-man au, consider it as exsting in the same universe as my hero academia, if you remember anything from these tags just let it be that names are important, pre-divorce chase au, sean and jackieboy are the same person in this au, spider-man ai, superhero au, that's a nice family and home you've got there chaser, the answer is no, the egos and sean as brothers au, think I've got enough au's yet, would be a shame if say, you lost them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 09:34:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17598767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaperHatCollection/pseuds/PaperHatCollection
Summary: Chase ‘Brody’ McLoughlin has always lived in a world in which superpowers are commonplace and being a superhero is a government job. He’s always been part of a family famous for its heroes. He’s never had the chance to join that legacy.Until he gets bitten by a radioactive spider.Then he put on the mask.





	Unraveled

              Chase was _late_.

               _Fuck_.

              Well, technically he wasn’t late _yet_ , per se. But he knew the city streets like the back of his hand, and he absolutely knew what traffic was like. If he hopped on a bus right now, he’d arrive half an hour late, in the _best case_ scenario. There was no way he’d make it to lunch anytime soon if he dropped to the crowded city streets below, which just left him with one opinion if he wanted to make up any lost time.

              Which just so happened to be the _fun_ way.

              With a familiar _thwip_ and a well aimed shot at the corner of a skyscraper, he was off and swinging above the air. Release, a moment of free fall, and he swung with his other hand. He couldn’t help but grin under his mask- there was nothing like the feeling of the wind rushing past, the rhythm of his swings, or the birds-eye view of the city as it rushed past around him. _Especially_ when he got a chance to pull off a cool trick in midair, or off the side of a building. With that thought in mind, he let himself swing to the very edge of his web, flipping himself over and double webbing two buildings to slingshot himself forward, bouncing off the edge of a rooftop to go soaring through the air.

              He caught a glimpse of himself in the windows of an office building as he soared past. The familiar red and black, against the whites of his eyes and web shooters. A green spider with its legs stretched around his chest and sides, a call back to the radioactive one that had bitten him. The thin lines of white forming a web across the reds of his suit. He missed the cape, but man, that thing got stuck on literally _every single_ corner and loose nail in the city. He gave a wave at the figure in the reflection, and Spider-Man waved back.

              Don’t forget the hyphen between ‘Spider’ and ‘Man’.

              Half the time, he couldn’t remember how he ever got _anywhere_ in time before he was Spider-Man. The other half of the time he remembered that he was usually running late _because_ he was out stopping crime as Spider-Man. Like today. But what kinda hero would he be if he just abandoned that old lady to that mugger? Or that kitten stuck in a tree? Or that lost tourist? Or that kid that wanted to take a photo with him? Long story short, he’d had a busy, action packed day, and now he needed to just lock in on where he needed to go and get to where his brothers were meeting up.

              Was that a bank robbery?

              Yep, that was a bank robbery. Chase didn’t think twice about it before he was dropping straight down, flinging a web at a gargoyle above the bank doors to pull himself closer and crouch out of sight. Threw a thin window, one probably more for decoration than lightning, he could see the robbers inside grabbing all the cash they could. Over the ledge he caught sight of two more keeping watch. They were each looking a different way, watching the streets for any heroes running or flying in- but he’d come in from above the building, right on top of them, and landed before they could spot him. Under the mask, Chase grinned.

              Spider-Man pounced, thwiping their guns even as he jumped to bring them up and hang from the jaws of the gargoyle. Those little pesky things out of the way he was free to land between the two men, who were already moving to attack him with his fists. The guy on his left was horribly off balance, it was child's play to sweep him off his feet, grabbing the front of his shirt while he stood and spun to throw him into the other guy. He didn’t even stop to see them land, already leaping into the open doors of the door-

              To immediately thwip up and around the room as bullets flew at him. Seems these guys were paying more attention to their backs than their actual guards, funny enough. Okay, think time. Spider-Man narrowed his eyes at them, putting together his plan. Let’s see- three men, grouped together near the back, surrounded by bags of money- got it. “Sup fellas!” Spider-Man called over the ringing of the gunshots. He swung at the nearest wall, then jumped back so the crooks were between him and the money. “Oh, don’t mind me, I just need to make a small withdrawl.”

              His webs shot out, past the baddies (who flinched) and hit the bags dead on, sticking them together. Spider-Man yanked the webs back towards him, bring the bags smack into the burgers and force them together. It didn’t knock them over, but it caused their arms to swing out for balance as he leapt from the wall, holding tight to the webs as he leapt around the room and wrapped them up, finally jumping towards the group and knocking them down with a well placed kick.

              “Oh, oops.” Spider-Man shrugged and brushed his hands together, stepping back to admire his work. “Looks like I left my card info in my _other_ suit. Guess I’ll have to split.” He glanced up at a bank teller who was peaking over the counter. “Call the cops for me, okay?” he asked, getting a shaky thumbs up in response. Ah, good. He spun on a heel and calmly walked out of the bank, only to find the two groonies he’d beaten already had slit. He gave a nod to the gathering crowd, aiming his web shooter up at the sky and skying off from the ground.

              Wait.

              He was still late.

               _SHIT!_

              Cursing under his breath, he beelined towards the one and only place to get the best burgers in the city: Five Guys.You couldn’t change his mind. Actually- while on the topic about what was on his mind, it occurred to him that Spider-Man couldn’t just land next to the restaurant, only to be replaced by Chase Brody, unless he wanted to throw up a few big red flags in front of his brothers faces. A couple blocks from the restaurant he took a sharp swing to the side, cutting from street to side ally than into the narrow, windowless space between two buildings, dropping down to the concrete below. He braced himself for the classic superhero landing, which he failed out, hitting the ground and tripping over himself in his attempt to crouch, face planting.

              Throwing out his spider-sense like a mental web, he gave a mental sigh of relief when he didn’t feel any eyes, be they physical or digital, looking at him. After peeling himself off the ground, Chase reached up and pushed his mask up and off his face, taking a deep breath of stale, alleyway air and regretting it just about immediately as he weezed it back out. Trying to stay as invisible as he possibly could without the actual ability to turn invisible, he reached back at the thing backpack built into the back of his suit. One pair of jeans, a shirt he tucked into this pants, shoes, and a hat and jacket later, his Spidey suit was completely hidden under the disguise of boring, regular ol’ Chase.

              Slipping out of the ally as if he’d just cut through it like a normal person, Chase tried to give a few casual glances around to make sure he wasn’t seen before stepping fully back onto the street as a normal, everyday civilian. He pulled his phone from his pocket, only to suck in a sharp breath at the time and start jogging down the street. _Fuck_ , he was already ten minutes late. Great, out of all they days he choose to be running late, it was one of the few days his brothers pulled themselves away from their work to meet up with him. Oh, great going Brody. Just like him, huh?

              He turned a corner and there they were, just waiting in front of Five Guys like they weren't two of the top five heroes in the city, let alone this side of the country. There was no mistaking it- even without their costumes they stood apart from the crowds like a pair of giant green thumbs. Marvin’s dyed hair helped with that imagery quite a bit, but it was more than just that. They stood taller, radiated confidence, were positioned in a way that they could run towards danger if need be, alert and ready. One of Marvin’s hands rested near his pocket, where Chase knew he always kept a spare deck of cards, and Seán’s grin practically seemed to brighten up his whole body. They weren't like Chase- they didn’t blend into the crowd when they removed their costumes. They didn’t stop being a hero when the mask came off.

              Marvin ‘Malcolm’ McLoughlin, better known to the public as Marvin the Magnificent, and their younger brother Seán William McLoughlin, but much ( _much_ ) better known as Jackieboy Man. And here he was- Chase ‘Brody’ McLoughlin, who could only really claim to have a fairly successful youtube series in its own right under the username Bro Average. Everything else- he’d probably take those secrets to his grave before anyone put two and two together to make _five_.

              In fact, they didn’t even notice Chase approaching in the crowd until he was a few steps away from them. Seán saw him first, as he was turning to tell Marv something Chase didn’t catch, but saw his jaw stop mid-sentence. A moment of surprise, than his grin was back, an expression so natural on Seán that Marv didn’t even react to the sudden change. Than Seán leaned out, waving wildly towards Chase. “Hey, HEY CHASE!” Seán yelled- and yeah, if it were possible for him to have any doubts that was Seán, they were gone now. “Over here!”

              Marv looked back, catching sight of Chase just as he finally reached them. He jumped forward, springing on Chase and throwing an arm around his shoulder, grinning like the Cheshire cat. “ _There_ you are!” Marv said. “We were just thinking that we’d have to eat without you!” he teased. Chase flinched- a minor movement that couldn’t be seen, but Marv might’ve felt-

              “Marv, common man.” Seán said, rolling his eyes. “No we weren't. We would have stood out here for another hour waiting if we had too, and you know it. Also-” Seán pulled out his phone, flashing it in front of Marv and Chase. “I win, he’s not that late at all.”

              “You guys didn’t have to wait- wait, what’s this about winning what now where for how much?” Chase asked, glancing back and forth between Marv and Seán suspiciously. Marv rubbed the back of his head as his grin shrunk a little, finally leaning out of Chase’s personal space. Seán, meanwhile, threw his phone straight up in the air so that it flipped, catching it again in his open palm before pocketing it.

              “Marvin thought you’d be half an hour late.” Seán explained. “But _I_ believe in you.”

              “Hey, no one said we were _betting_ on it.” Marv huffed, crossing his arms and puffing his chest out. “I was _only_ saying, if he ends up being half an hour late we _might_ wanna call him and make sure he’s got the time right.” he paused, glancing at Chase. “Uh- I mean, no offense, I just- I mean, um-”

              “Hey,” Chase held up hands dismissively. “I get it. I’ve made that mistake enough times before. _But_ ,” he placed his hands on his hips. “For the _record_ , it was the bus systems fault I was late, not mine. This time, at least.”

              “ _Suuuuure_ ,” Seán teased. “Anyways, are we gonna eat or what? I’m _starving_.”

              “Say no more.” Marv said, bringing up a hand to snap his fingers. There was a puff of smoke, the distinct feeling of the ground being swept out from under his feet even as Chase remained standing, and then he stumbled sideways and bumped into the familiar red and white tiled counter in the inside of the restaurant. “Seriously,” Marv asked, “Who needs walking when you’ve got _magic~?_ ”

              “Oh, _I_ wouldn’t know~” Seán said as he flouted past, arms crossed over his chest and legs kicked up like he was reclining back in a chair. Chase actually snorted from that, covering his grin while Marv rolled his eyes. There were- what? A hundred or so people, _tops_ , across the _world_ that could fly? Two people in _this_ very city who could do it? And Seán was right there, among the best of the best- a born hero. Flyers were _always_ beacons of virtues- and apparently also very loud, if there was any comparisons to be made between Seán and Mark. Which, considering they had to be heard over the wind, Chase wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be an _actual_ extension of their powers.

               Chase pulled his eyes off his brother to give a subtle glance around the room. There were already people gawking at them, and especially Seán, as well as quite a few phones held up for photos or videos, but probably both. Not like Chase really expected anything else. Frankly, he was still surprised they hadn’t been flocked by fans while they were waiting for him- maybe they hadn’t been recognized before they used their powers? Or maybe they’d already dealt with the crowd before he’d shown up…

               “Hey, Chase,” Marv caught his attention. “The usual?” Chase nodded- it was Five Guys, of course he was gonna get a burger. “Alright, I’ve got this. You two take a seat.” Marv offered, than disappeared- literally, only to reappear a moment later at the back of the line five steps away and gave Chase a little ‘shoo’ motion.

               Seán dropped into a wooden booth, Chase following him over a moment later. He tried to tune out the people staring at them, while feeling an immense need to fidget and squirm under the weight of the eyes on them… even if people wouldn’t _really_ be looking at him anyways. Seán, meanwhile, seemed to genuinely not mind, despite being the center of attention. Than again, he was used to having a cities worth of eyes on him, even without a mask to hide behind. This was probably nothing.

               “It’s great to see you again, Chase,” Seán broke the silence without a second thought, leaning back and smoothing his hair- it always got a little messed up when he flew, it tended to flout slightly, like he was underwater. “It’s been _way_ too long. I just kinda… get really busy, you know?” he shrugged, grinning sheepishly like the thing keeping him busy wasn’t something awesome like him literally getting to save the city. “How’s the life? The wife? The kids? The channel?” he asked, rushing through the questions before he could answer any one of them.

               Chase rolled his eyes. “First of all, it’s cool man, no one’s blaming you for doing your _job_ . Secondly, _slow down_. And thirdly, life's going fine, Stacy’s picked up on weekly manicures, Trey and Amanda are in their school’s play, and the channel’s going steady.” He leaned back, chuckling. “You know, that video I did with you? The ‘horrible reporter’ one? Still the most watched thing on my channel.”

               “Well _duh_ ,” Seán said, rolling his eyes. “You were hilarious in that video. Plus people like the character- that one you did with the potholes? I was on the floor, _dying_ when I saw it.”

               Chase felt himself blush, glancing down and hiding under the brim of his hat. That was a recent video- not even a couple weeks old. It was a silly, fun little sketch video. The crux was that his character was going around the city, ranting and dramatizing the potholes he found ( _real_ potholes, too), but meanwhile there was an alien invasion happening in the background he completely ignored. He hadn’t… realized Seán _actually_ kept up with his videos- sure, he knew Seán had watched a video or two, he’d _been_ in some of them, but this implied he at least checked up on it every now and again. “O-Oh.” he muttered, trying to compose himself. “Thanks man.”

               “Hey, no problem. You deserve it, Chase.” Seán promised. Chase glanced back up, pushing his hat up and out of the way, in time to see him flash another hero-worthy grin. “You gotta give yourself a little more credit, I’ve seen that subscriber count of yours.”

               “Oh, are we talking about Chase’s youtube channel?” Marv asked, popping into existence in the seat next to Seán. The food appeared on the table the same moment he did, with Chases tray already in front of him with the burger and toppings he always got. “Cause I gotta say, that video where you opened the pack of ‘Marvin’s Magic’ fifty tricks box? Pretty sure it’s not just a coincidence they named their brand that- but seeing you go through the tricks?” Marv leaned forward, leaning on his hands and winking. “You might just have potential.”

               Now it was Seán’s turn to laugh and Chase’s to fold his arms and slump back in his seat. Chase rolled his eyes. “Haha, common man. I practiced for like- five minutes, _tops_ , and I’m pretty sure that was all on camera.”

               “You’re the one that choose to put the video up.” Marv said, picking through his fries and choosing one at random. “By the way, do you still have that box?”

               Chase shrugged. “Maybe? I might have thrown it out.” he honestly couldn’t remember- maybe it was sitting in the back of his closet somewhere, or given it too his kids, or just in the trash somewhere. He’d never planned to use it again. “I think it only cost like, ten bucks or something.”

               “No big deal.” Marv said around a mouthful of fries. At least, that’s what Chase thought he said- it sounded a little more like ‘ Naw brg dial’. He rolled his eyes, glancing at Seán to see if he had anything to say about Marv’s manners, only to catch Seán looking at something up and slightly to the left of Chase. He glanced back behind him, curious and caught sight of a TV playing video footage of Spider-Man saving that bank from the robbery he’d stopped before coming here.

              It was strange, watching himself. He didn’t remember spinning so much in midair when he was there earlier, and his movements seemed a lot more… for lack of a better comparison, _pin-bally_ when seemed from the outside. He changed direction on a dime, bounced off walls before his weight had even fully settled in, his webs flinging him across the room and out of the path of bullets. And, it occurred to him, he’d been running his mouth, taunting the robbers the entire time he’d been coming up with his plan, but it was so second nature he hadn't even thought about the fact he was doing it. He hadn’t said anything he wouldn’t have said if he _was_ , but… he should probably start paying attention anyways. You couldn’t even hear it anyways, not over the commentators speaking over the footage.

              “If that were any other hero in the city, those news anchors would be ripping into him for showing off instead of just stopping the robbery.” Seán muttered. Chase glanced back at him, as did Marvin, and Seán shrugged. “I’m serious. He’s wasting all this time, in which bullets are flying everywhere and could have hit _anyone_ , and he’s just backflipping and dropping quips like he’s playing it up for the camera. He probably _is_ . Any other hero, and they’d get their license ripped in two for this kinda showboating- I guess he doesn't even _have_ one, but still.” Unseen, unfelt, Chase flinched.

              “I don’t think he had an opening right away.” Marv pointed out, and Chase felt grateful for that. “You’re always so harsh on him, Seán. If he just gave an interview, he’d probably have said the same thing himself.”

              “Hey, he’d make a good hero.” Seán shrugged, leaning back and throwing up his hands. “I’d love to work with him- but there are laws in place for this kinda thing _for a reason_ . Plus I just don’t get… _why_ he wouldn’t come forward with his identity unless this is a huge PR stunt, in which case, is he really doing this cause he wants to? Or for the fame and fortune?”

              “He’s plenty popular already,” Chase blurted out before he could help himself. “And if he wanted too get paid for this stuff, wouldn’t he have come forward by now?” he paused, biting his lip briefly before adding, “Maybe he’s one of those people who feels like getting paid for saving people is unethical- he should do it cause he can, not cause someone’s waving cash around.”

              “If that’s the problem he could just turn down a bigger paycheck, or donate it.” Marv said, waving his fingers over his fries and making a line of them dance and hop into his ketchup. “That’d help way more people than just doing this for free. Or work with a smaller agency. Some of those places would fight to the death with each other to give Spider Man his own hero license under them- they wouldn’t even ask to see he’s real face, they’d just give him one under ‘Spider Man’ with a picture of him in his costume.”

              Chase thought of his own hero license- the place he’d gotten it from wasn’t exactly the best in the business, but they were credible enough and hadn’t demanded he show off too many of his powers before handing it over to him. Technically, with his powers and the training he’d actually done, Chase should have only qualified for a bystander license- something that only gave him the right to step into dangerous situations if there were no heroes around, and he was nearby. But, well… being a McLoughlin in this city had it’s perks. But, man, if they knew they had Spider-Man on their hero rooster- well they’d probably cash in on that fact, sell the rights to his hero license to a bigger agency.

              “You know what I bet?” Marv asked, leaning over the table and glancing around, like he was about to share a secret. “I bet he’s an ex-criminal… someone who’d _never_ legally be able to get their hands on a hero license, but wants to make up for their past. At this point, they’ve just done too much good for it to be a trick.”

              “Naw, you’re overthinking it.” Seán said, looking back at the tv, although it’s coverage had already switched to a football game. “I bet he’s already got a license and everything- this whole ‘secret identity’ thing is seriously just for the attention.”

              “Ha, maybe.” Chase said, trying to keep his voice steady. His hands were clasped his his lap, and his grin felt so obviously forced. But no one else seemed to even bat an eye at it. “Guess we’ll never know, huh?”

              “Eh, probably not. So, as a completely natural topic change, have you guys seen those new campaign ads for the mayor’s office-” Marv began, finally lifting one of his fries for a bite. And so the conversation resumed- but Chase felt… out of it. Like he was watching the conversation, instead of really being a _part_ of it. He couldn’t _blame_ his brothers, he’d have guessed the same thing if he didn’t know, it was just… well, he was only human, right? At one point he and Marvin both ended up throwing their fries at Seán when he tried to claim entertaining a crowd was _easy_ , and that was fun.

               _BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-_

              “Ah, shit.” Seán held up his phone, frowning at some kind of alert on it. He swiped to the side, stopping the alarm-like sound as he stood in the same motion. Shoulders tense, expression serious, eyes locked unwavering on his phone. It was like watching Seán transform into a totally different person. “I’ve got to go- there’s a level four and they need me.”

              Chase was just trying to remember whether or not a level four was a high or low threat (he knew the levels were 1-5, at least) when Marv pulled out his own phone, sighing.

              “They'll properly call me in a sec-” The same beeping came from his phone, even as Marv was already standing, sliding to the side so he came out standing next to their booths. “Yep, there it is. I’m really sorry about this Chase, but duty’s calling and… well, we have to _go_.” he said, raising his hand to snap- and he too seemed to become someone else, but in a much more literal way.

              As literally as putting on a mask.

              Marvin adjusted the mask on his face- designed after the same plastic cat one he’d made himself, back when they were kids. But this one was porcelain, the card suits and whiskers engraved into its surface and molded to fit Marvin’s face perfectly. Add to that the cape flowing from his shoulders, fluttering in an unseen breeze (cheater), the suit and the way his green hair seemed to spill from his mask and into its bun like a lion's mane? It was an outfit that had barely changed from the first one he’d worn when he first became a hero, and for good reason; he looked fucking _good_ in it.

              “Ready, Se- Jackie?” Marvin asked. Chase looked back over and-

              Oh.

              Apparently Marvin had also taken care of Seán’s outfit- which, unlike Marvin’s, had changed dozens of times since he’d first started his job. It’s not that he had actually looked _bad_ in his first outfit, even if it was a bit plain- it was just that as one of the top heroes in the city, people were always fighting over who could redesign his outfit next. Sometimes it was the prize at the end of one of those fashion challenge shows. Chase hadn’t even realized he’d been behind on them until he saw what Seán current outfit looked like.

              The jacket gave him his familiar hood, but it had extra padding around his shoulders and arms which almost seemed designed to look _good_ more than anything else, blues running down his sides and legs, and gloves that covered the whole bottom half of his arms. He had a belt this time around- it was something that tended to come and go with the different designs, and of course, his unchanged blue mask. He nodded, eyes turned electric green from his powers.

              “Ready.” Jackieboy Man said.

              There was a moment, between the two of them, that they locked eyes and it almost seemed like they were the only two that _really_ existed in the restaurant- and then they were out the door, with only the rush of air left to show which way they had gone. People crowded around the widows to catch a glimpse of them, of Jackie flying through the sky, or Marvin warping from rooftop to rooftop, crossing the city in only a few short steps. Chase didn’t join them by the windows- he slipped out the door while no one was looking.

              Chase glanced towards where his brothers had gone- and shoved down the part of him snapping that he should get his outfit and _help_ them. They were two of the best heroes in the city- he’d probably just get in the way. Besides, his spider sense wasn’t even reacting, so he _knew_ they’d be fine. He just… had to let the _real_ heroes handle this one.

              Well, time to catch a bus home.

              He began walking, stuffing his hands in his pockets and letting his eyes wonder, over people and buildings, past trash littering the street, past billboards pushing their products with the models and heroes alike, and back down to the path in front of him. He’d lied back there in more ways than one; he didn’t really think getting paid to be a hero was some kind of… _bribe_. Hey, it’d be nice to get paid for the times he’d put his life on the line for this city, he couldn’t deny that, it was just… it… it was….

              Chase stopped to pick up a can, dropping it into the trashcan it was laying besides. A dozen more people had passed by in that moment, and not a single one had cared. Returning his hand to its spot in his pocket, Chase resumed his walk, thinking without really thinking about anything at all. If it hadn’t been for his extra sense, he’d probably have bumped into every person he passed, but as it was, he could just let his feet walk and his subconscious guide him.

              He didn’t like the idea of making his hero ‘hobby’ his job. He didn’t like it at all.

              There were reasons. He knew he could probably see a psychologist and get some of those reasons sorted out, but…

              Hey, if there was one thing he was good at, it was screwing up his own life.

               _Riiiingriiiing, Riiiingriiiing, Riiiingriiiing_

              Chase jumped when his phone began ringing, fumbling to get his it out of his pocket, nearly dropping it three times in the process, _actually_ dropping it, grabbing it back up, and hitting the green button in a panic before he even fully recognized Stacy’s name at the top of the contact info. He held it up to his ear, stepping to the side of the sidewalk near the buildings, out of the way of the rest of the foot traffic, his eyes landing on the merchandise in the store window next to him- oh.

              “-ase?” Stacy’s voice cut through his thoughts.

              “Ah- hey, Stac’. Sorry about that- what’s up?” he asked, eyes on the Spider-Man merch on display on the window. There was merch of other heroes here too- he spotted a replica of the Silver Shepherds signature gauntlets, alongside Jackieboy’s mask and a hoodie styled after one of his earlier outfits.

              “Weren't you supposed to be back half an hour ago?” Stacy asked, and then before he had a chance to respond, she continued. “Well, nevermind, I need you to pick up milk on your way home anyways.”

              “Milk? Okay, yeah, I can do that.” Chase glanced up, into the store. He spotted comic displays, alongside more merch. “And sorry about that, things ran a little later than we planned.” he added, not mentioning that he’d met them a little later than he planned as well.

              “Fine, fine. Love you, bye.” Stacy said, automatically. She ended the call a moment later, and Chase entered the store.

              Half an hour later, exactly, Chase was walking back into his house with two bags. He called a familiar “I’m home!” as he placed the bags on the kitchen counter. He didn’t get any response- Stacy would be picking the kids up from school right about now. Right. The kids could use the bus, but she liked to pick them up herself. It was nice of her, and it gave her an excuse to leave the house when she’d be otherwise unoccupied. Chase put the milk away in the fridge before it could be left out too long, than headed into the living room and towards the back, where the fireplace was. It was mostly decoration, the fire it made wasn’t real, and what Chase was looking for honestly had little to do with the fireplace itself.

              It was designed to look like it was made from slabs of stone, as was the wall behind it. Semi-random shaped stones covered the wall, but Chase reflexively reached for the right one, getting a grip under it and tugging on it to open the door to the secret room, hidden in the shapes of the stones themselves. To be fair, his whole family knew about this door, but it was _his_ room. Basically the closest he came to having a man cave. Even the inside didn’t seem all that special- he’d mostly set it up for filming the talking parts of his videos- the sound was _excellent_ in here.

              The real secret was under his desk, hidden by a false floor. Even if someone knew exactly where to look, they’d never be able to open it on their own. Chase place his hands face down on the floor, lifting up. The fake flooring came up with his hands, which, to be fair, was much heavier than it looked. He set it aside, than went about the process of undressing, removing his suit, redressing in normal clothes, than folding up his suit, hiding it in away under the floor, than placing the cover back.

              By the time Chase finally left his room, he could hear Stacy arriving back home. He smiled and returned to the items he had purchased- Three items, each in a plastic package held closed by colorful cardboard and stables. Two he left unopened on the counter, and the third he giddly opened himself and hide under the sleeve of his shirt before his family got inside, throwing away the trash.

              “Welcome back.” he called as his kids raced inside, running past into the house giggling. “When you’re done putting your stuff away come back out here, I’ve got a surprise for you!” he called after them. He heard their choruses of ‘okay dad!’ and smiled, glancing back at his wife. She glanced at the objects on the counter and shrugged, moving to hang her jacket up on a hook by the door. “Hey honey.” Chase said, smiling. “Welcome home.”

              “Yeah.” Stacy said. Passing him and heading down the stairs to their basement, which acted as a second floor. That was also where their bedroom was, while the kids rooms were up here. Speaking of which…

              Chase grinned as Amanda, followed closely by Trey, came bouncing down the halls, quick enough that they’d probably just thrown their bags and coats on the floor and come rushing out to see what their surprises were. He held the objects behind his back, hidden in his hands. “Okay, Amanda, you were here first so pick a hand.”

              “Uh…. that one.” she said, pointing to Chases left hand. He pulled his hand out to reveal the bag containing the Silver Shepard Mask, gloves designed like his (although if Chase were being honest, they looked like someone had just reused some spare Mickey Mouse gloves, and his signature black cape. From his other hand he revealed the Jackieboy Man version of the set, which he gave to Trey. He watched their faces light up in joy at they tore open the packages, running off with them towards the living room excitedly.

              “Hey,” Chase called out to them, following their path and standing in the doorway to the living room. “What do you say?”

              “Thanks, dad.” Amanda said, trying to fit the mask over her face so that she could see out of it. It fit okay, even if the eye holes were cut a bit low, although the gloves looked downright hilarious when she finally slipped them on. She tried to put her cape on life, a feat impossible with the gloves she was wearing, and Chase crossed the room the clasp it on for her.

              “THANKS!” Trey shouted, jumping onto the couch and standing in a classic superhero pose. He’d already thrown the outfit on- the cape and hood fluttered around his shoulders, the mask was crooked on his face, and he was grinning ear to ear as he held up a plastic disk launcher that Chase had missed in the package. “TAKE THIS!” he shouted, firing a plastic disk at his sister.

              “Ow!” Amanda yelped as the disk hit her arm and fell harmlessly to the floor. Chase picked it up- it was designed to look like a circular bolt of green lightning. That was cute. “Daaaaaaaad!” Amanda whined. “He’s got a weapon, that’s not fair!”

              “You’ve got your fists.” Chase pointed out, turning the disk over. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see her expression change into a surprised little ‘oh’, before she darted past him and jumped at Trey, who squealed and jumped off to run across the living room. Amanda wasn’t really having much luck punching with her gloves- mostly it was just like she was slapping Trey with a pillow, and now that he was trying to run from her, Trey’s aim was getting sloppier missing more often than not.

              “Trey,” Chase called, standing calmly in the center of the living room. “Aim with your hips- look where you want to hit and make sure you’re using both hands.” A green disk flew through the air and hit Amanda in the center of the forehead, which made her wince and blink but not react in any other major way. “Amanda, his cape’s fluttering out an extra two feet behind him.” Amanda caught on quickly, jumping forward and slapping both hands on either side of Trey’s cape, the sudden jerk sending both of them crashing to the ground.

              Their laughter was all Chase needed to know they weren't hurt. He knelt down, keeping his center of gravity low in a familiar crouch. “Hey,” he called softly, a grin stretching across his face. He rolled back his wrist, revealing the cheap red plastic cuff. “I’ve got a _plot twist_ for you.” he hit a button on the bottom, silly string shooting out of a little hole at the end and sending his kids bolting in opposite directions. Goog strategy.

              “No fair!” Trey shouted, firing one of his disks towards Chase. He could have dodged it easily, but he went slow, in fact moving _more_ into the path of the projectile so that it bounced off his chest as he stood and stepped to the side, fingers at the ready on his knock off spider shooters. “ _AMY,_ do something!”

              Now, if that was a call for a distraction, Trey was making a good shot. Amanda leapt forward, smacking Chase with one of her pillow gloves, yelling a high little “No! Bad!” that almost made Chase collapse with laughter. He decided to collapse to a knee anyways, holding his right side like she’d really hurt him. Amanda grinned in victory, only to shrek in surprise and bolt off when Chase fired point blank at her. His shooter, which was actually pretty small, ran out in that moment.

              “Hah!” Trey called triumphantly, stepping forward with his gun raised. “You’re out of ammo! We win!”

              “So are you.” Chase pointed out, watching at Trey clicked his shooters in confusion and watched as nothing came out. “You should always keep track of your supply. Which, by the way, leads me to my _second_ plot twist.” He rolled up his other sleeve, revealing his second web shooter and held it up while Trey gasped, throwing down his gun and lifting his cape to defend himself. Clever.

              “CHASE!” Stacy yelled, stepping into the living room with her hands on her waist. She cast a scornful eye at the web shooters on his wrist. “What do you think you’re _doing_?!” she snapped.

              “What?” Chase asked, shrugging. “It’s just silly string. Besides,” he reached down, grabbing a web of of the stuff of the floor and lifting it straight back up. “It’s not even sticking to anything. And I’ll clean it up myself.”

              Stacy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “That’s not what I _meant_ .” she snapped, than pointed an accusing finger at the band on his wrist. “How could you use- use- _that thing_ in front of our kids! That man in a _menace_ , and you’re just waving that toy around like it’s all fine and dandy! What happens if you give them the wrong impression?!”

              Chase stiffened, standing and slowly unclasping the web shooters from his wrists. “Spider-Man’s not a menace, love.” he said softly. “He’s a hero, just like my family. He’s never done anything _bad_.”

              Stacy scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Oh, _please_ Chase, _think_ about what you’re saying for five seconds. I know you feel like heroes are a… _personal_ subject, but you’ve never even _met_ that ‘Spider man’.” Chase rubbed his wrist as Stacy kept talking, not noticing the action as odd. “No one even knows who he _is_ , and he breaks laws left and right! After everything I’ve heard about him, I can't believe you’d still support him!”

              “Oh. This is about what Jonah said again, isn't it?” Chase asked. “Honey, you _know_ you can’t trust everything he says, he even got kicked from his _own newspaper_ over the stuff he was printing.”

              “He’s _your_ Uncle.” Stacy shot back. “Or does that half of your family magically not _count_ anymore when it doesn't suit with your options?”

              “No, that’s not what I, I...” Chase paused, glancing off to the side. He loved Jackson, but sometimes his father could be… “You know it’s not like that. Even JJ doesn't take everything his father says about heroes at face value, love. I…” he stopped, than glanced back at his kids. “Hey, why don’t you two go finish putting your stuff away, alright?” he asked, keeping his voice soft and upbeat. They nodded, shuffling out of the room awkwardly and disappearing back down the hall towards their rooms. Chase waited until he heard their doors open and shut again to take a breath, turning his eyes back to Stacy. “I-”

              “No.” she snapped, holding up a finger. “Don’t you _dare_ . I swear- you never listen to _anything_ I say, do you? Did you know you even got the wrong _kind_ of milk, as well?” she asked, taking a slow breath to calm herself. “I _always_ get the 1 percent, and you got the 2! That’s twice the fat! I swear, it’s like you're _trying_ to be completely useless! Okay…. You know what? I’m going to  just dump the whole thing down the sink and make you go back and get the _right_ one! Seriously, this shouldn’t be this hard, when are you going to start doing something _right_ for once in your life?!”

              “Sorry,” Chase muttered, his shoulders slumping. In his hand, he slowly turned the web shooters over, clanking them together.

              “Oh, give me _that_ -” Stacy yanked the shooters out of his hand, stomping them into the trash and tossing them out. “ _Useless_ , _I swear_ .” she muttered under her breath, than spoke up. “Chase? I’m _done_ with this conversation. I don’t want to hear another _word_ about Spiders, alright?”

              “Yes, dear.” Chase answered.

 

\-----

 

              “Common kids, it’s bedtime, settle down.” Chase said, giving them a little nudge back to their rooms. “Trey, put the game away, you know you weren't supposed to be playing that an hour before bed.”

              Trey turned off the game screen, shrugging and holding it by his side. “Sorry, dad.” he said, before heading down the hall to his room.

              Amanda hesitated in her doorway, glancing at Chase like she wanted to say something, than turned and darted inside her room. Chase followed, entering her room to see Amy already sitting on her bed, hugging a stuffed rabbit close to her chest. “Amanda? You okay there?” he asked softly, stepping into her room.

              She hesitated for a second, shuffling under her covers so Chase could tuck her in. He pulled the blankets up, giving her a kiss on her forehead before muttering a soft “Sleep tight, sweetie.” and turning to go, switching off the lights on the way out. He cast another glance back into her room, before leaving the doorway and heading towards Trey’s.

              Trey was sitting on his bed, but he still had his game, fiddling with it in his lap. The screen was still off, and he didn’t seem to be trying to play it, but Chase still held his hand out until Trey gave him the handheld so that he could put it on the dresser, out of reach. “It’s bedtime, Trey.” he said again, glancing back and waiting for his son to lay down.

              Instead Trey fidgeted, glancing at his wall before looking back up at Chase. “Dad?” he asked softly, voice nearly a whisper. Chase nodded slightly, waiting for him to continue. Trey took a deep breath. “Is Spider-Man really… a bad guy?”

              Chase moved to sit on the side of Trey’s bed, wrapping an arm around Trey’s shoulders. “No,” he promised. “He’s a hero, I promise. Just like your uncles. Your mom just… dosin’t like spiders, that’s all.”

              “But,” Trey bit his lip, looking off. “How do you _know_.”

              “Cause,” Chase leaned closer, whispering. “I’ve _met_ him.” he watched as Trey’s expression changed to surprise, eyes widening as he looked back up at his father. “He saved me, once. Seems like something a hero would do, dosin’t it?” he asked.

              “Yeah. Um… What happened?” Trey asked, trying not to seem too excited.

              “Tell you what,” Chase smiled. “Right now, you go to sleep. I’ll tell you and your sister that story later, when we’ve got time.”

              Trey groaned, flopping down onto the bed. Chase stood back up, lifting the sheets so that Trey could kick his legs under and let Chase tuck him in.

              “Goodnight, Trey.” he whispered, brushing some of Trey’s bangs aside and giving him a kiss on his forehead as well.

              “Night, dad.” Trey muttered back. Chase moved to leave his bedroom, turning his light off as he did so.  “Hey, Dad?” Trey called out, voice still a whisper. Chase glanced back. “Do you think… do you think I could be a superhero someday?” he asked.

              Chase smiled. “Yeah.” he promised. “It’s in your blood.”

              Trey nodded, laying back down, and Chase finally left his room

              He went to the kitchen first, pulling a bear from the fridge, then returned to the living room. The only light on was from the TV, the volume so low it was almost off entirely, channel turned to the late night news. Chase dropped onto the couch alone, glancing up at the TV without really seeing it. Stacy had already gone to bed… Chase had promised to be there shortly after getting the kids tucked away.

              He’s… tired, all right.

              Sometimes, he just wants to say it. To stand on a rooftop and yell his real name down to the streets, or finally give an interview in which he takes off his mask. Or maybe something more private, in which he called his family together and revealed his secret at long last. He could just picture it now- Marvin would be so mad he never noticed, and Schneep would yell at him for putting himself in danger without ever coming to him for help- he wondered if JJ would tell his father, or how Robbie would react… but… Seán? He probably be so _mad_ \-  and after what happened to Jack-

              Chase put his bear bottle down, which was shockingly more empty than the last time he’d thought about it. Eh. It would take a _lot_ more than that to get him drunk. He dropped his head into his hands, taking a deep breathe and thinking about how normal heroes had professional therapists on standby they could talk to, at any time. Chase didn’t even have a friend he could confide this secret in, his friends were all either part of the hero network or his Youtube network. A couple crossed over into both.

              He glanced back up at the TV. Must be a slow news day- they were recounting the events of the day, showing clips of Jackieboy stopping what had turned out to be an attempt on the Mayor’s life. Mayor Damien looked surprisingly small in Jackie’s arms, clinging to him thirty feet in the air. On the ground below, Marvin and Silver Shepherd were rounding up the ones responsible- turned out there had been a whole team of guys who were in on it. Chase turned the TV off.

              He sighed, which turned into a yawn, shoving those thoughts into the back of his head as he stood and grabbed his bear, draining the last of it before dumping it into the trash gently, heading to his room to get to bed. He needed to go to sleep.

 

\-----

 

              Chase thought a bus must have been about to come flying into the store and hit him, with the way his spider sense started sounding the alarm bells in his head.

              His reflex, disappointingly enough, was just to drop into a crouch and try to turn and face the danger as quickly as he could, resulting in his side slamming into the store counter with one hand braced against it it for support. He stared out the front window, unmoving for several tense, short seconds that felt like they’d last an eternity, before it finally occurred to Chase that, no, there was not in fact a rapidly approaching threat. He could still feel the alarm bells ringing away in the back of his head- but whatever it was, it was something he’d have to find himself.

              Yay for vague sixth senses that went off seemingly at random, huh?

              Instead the electronics store went largely unchanged, aside from a few of the other customers giving Chase a puzzled look before continuing on with their shopping. Chase stood back up awkwardly, feeling heat pool in his cheeks and wishing desperately he could go unnoticed right now- but his power didn’t work when there was already a spotlight on him. Fuck. Chase glanced back up and made accidentally eye contact with the cashier- for their part, they mostly looked bored. They probably thought Chase was a druggie, or something.

              “I- uh, sorry about that.” Chase muttered. “I thought I um, I thought I saw… something?” Chase winced at that excuse- and from repressing his spider sense. He sounded so unsure it probably would have worked out better if he’d just kept his mouth shut! The cashier said something along the lines of ‘sure, have a nice day’ as they slid his card and a little plastic shopping bag across the counter of him, but Chase hardly seemed to hear it as he fumbled with getting his card back in his wallet. Yeah, they definitely thought he was a druggie by this point.

              He refused to look at anyone as he left the store- half expecting to feel an earthquake under his feet at any moment, or to see a tornado touch down in the distance, or- or… _something_ , ANYthing to explain why his nerves were going crazy like this. Instead, literally _nothing_ happened, which somehow seemed even worse than any of the above. Chase didn’t _want_ to let his imagination to run wild with theories- but the longer this went unexplained, the harder it was to stop himself. He shoved his items back into his pockets, keeping his hands their to hide the twitching of his fingers, just itching to take off towards the sky.

              Head down, shoulders forced to relax, Chase began to walk way as calmly as he could manage. He knew a good place to change a block from here- he wanted to _bolt_ , race there as fast as he could manage… but that was also an excellent way to draw as much attention to himself as he possibly could. Instead he did his best to send out a vibe of ‘ _don’t look at me I’m not important just ignore me_ ’ and not walk into someone. The alleyway in question was supposed to be gated off- but no one ever bothered to lock the gate door, and Chase was able to slip in and close it behind him without ever receiving a second glance. He liked to think he looked like he was confident enough to seem like he was supposed to be here- in reality it was probably just his power turning eyes away. He slipped down the alleyway and behind the buildings, where he’d be unseen.

              The entire outfit change felt sluggish, despite having practiced it a thousand times before. In reality, he probably all but ripped his normal clothes off to get to the spider suit underneath, shoving his clothes into the pack on his back while glancing around quickly. He half expected an unseen assassin to leap out of the shadows and attack him at any moments, which made him even jumpier than his spider sense already was. Another second and his mask was pulled over his head, the next Spider-Man was taking to the air.

              It was only when he was already in the air, his webs pulling him up to the corner of a nearby building, that he finally stopped repressing his senses and let them flare to life. He’d fired another web before he’d even fully landed on the roof of the building, flinging himself across the city before he even knew where he was going. This kinda thing only happened in two cases- one was if he was about to die, which wasn’t happening, and the other was if someone close to him was going to die- if his family was in danger.

              This was already looking bad- he was heading farther and farther out, flinging past the better parts of the city and towards the sketcher parts of town- places with lower building and less trees, somewhere he would have trouble traversing very far into. He was in the middle of trying to figure out who he’d know would even be out in this part of time when he heard it- a woman’s scream cutting right through his thoughts like a knife, cut off suddenly in a way that made his throat tighten.

              He landed in an alleyway before he’d even fully registered where the scream had come from, all but crashing into the ground with the full force of his swing. This looked like- oh no. A women lay bleeding out, unmoving on the ground, a man looming over her holding the knife. But- that didn’t explain why his sense was acting like a fog horn in his head, as horrible as it was this was _just_ a stabbing- who was that on the ground? He didn’t… _recognize_ that woman, so his gaze turned back up to the man standing above her- the same moment that the man leaned out of the shadows while seeming to _glitch_ , like a broken computer, bits breaking off him and fizzing away to nothing in the air.

              He saw the presumed mugger move, turning towards him- it wasn’t natural. The movement was jerky, sudden in the same moment the man seemed to spasmen, as if there were two or three of him standing in the same spot instead of one, sides clashing back together as he turned completely to face Spider-Man. He caught a glimpse of an electric green pupile set into a black eye, the flashing of green, sharp teeth set in square jaw about a cut across his neck, before he saw _him_.

              Chase knew that face. No matter how much it was glitching or warping, no matter how much static was obscuring the details, he’d never forget that face. He still saw that faces twin, everytime he turned on the news. And- the man giggled, and Chase recognized that sound too, despite how twisted it had become, growing in and out of volume, switching between a high and low sound. The man stepped fully out of the shadows, knife held up and crazed grin stretching ear to ear.

              “ _Jack_.” Chase whispered.

              Jack froze.

              “C̵h͜as̛e̴͘.” Jack echoed, tilting his head to the side. There was a moment, a beat of silence between them. Chase- not Spider-Man, just _Chase_ stepped forward, lifting his hand towards his brother. He wanted to say something, _anything_ , but he couldn’t seem to remember any words. He saw Jack move, what should have just been a casual step forward, but Jack _glitched_ again, a part of him stepping forward, a part of him curling up on the ground, and a part of him lunged with his knife slashing outward. When they came back together, it was the last part that remained, glitching in front of Chase in an instant to drive the knife into his side, tearing it free with high pitched giggling.

              Chase collapsed to one knee, his hand grabbing his right side where he’d been hurt. The wound bleed between his fingers, blood seeping into his suit. Above him, Jack laughed, voice overlayed with static. Chase looked back up in time to see the knife raised again, and that fucking cheshire grin.

              “I͝'l̕l̢ co͞n͟side̵r this ͘m͢y ̨'͢welco͏m̨e̕ ̢b̢a͟ck' p̷art̛y͞,҉ Chas͢e̴r.͠” He said, voice similar to nails being dragged down a chalkboard, but oh, so familiar at the same time. He moved and broke apart again- part of him bringing the knife down, another side pulling the knife back to deliver a kick to Chase’s injured side. Chase... Spider-Man reacted on reflex, grabbing the leg that was about to hit him and yanked it back. Jack hit the ground on his back, his other part disappearing into static. Spider-Man leapt back, firing webs at Jack’s wrists.

              Jack strained against the webbing, the grin having never wavered from his face. “Ah͘,҉ what'҉s wr̵on̶g̢,̕ C̵h̛a̡ser?̶ I͡ ͏th̢o̷u͢g͜ht y͟o̷u'd ̴ _m͟is̸sed_ m͏e.̨” Jack said, voice raised higher, like a song. Spider-Man ignored him, he had to for now, stepping over him to reach the woman. He was too late for her… way to late. “O̧h,͏ a̡dmir̶in͟g̵ ͜my̛ ̧w̴or͟k?̕” Jack called back, voice cheery and a touch closer to the one Chase remembered. Than- it was way to close. “I w͘a̕s ͢just test̨ing ̷out ̨my ne͡w ͟k̵ni͟f͢e- ͟bu͏t ̧y̡ou̡'͜re̶ ̧a̛ _mu͢c̨h͏ b̸et͠t͞e̶r͘ ̕targ̵e͢t_.”

              He threw his elbow back on instinct, making contact with something that felt a lot like a face about about the same moment he heard something * _crack_ *. Spider-Man spun around, facing the somehow-now free’d Jack, bringing his web shooters up and firing at him again- this time using a lot more webbing that hit Jack in the chest and slammed him into the wall behind him. He spotted the knife in Jack’s hand, and making the logical connection here, sent another burst of his webbing to grab the blade and yank it from Jack’s hands, where it clattered onto the street.

              “Jack.” Spider-Man didn’t even know if Jack was even in control right now- it was a nice thought, great way to enter denial about what Jack had done, but he’d never heard of a hypnotist who slapped a broken computer filter over their victims. “What… Who _did this_ to you?” he stepped closer- and thinking, _fuck it_ , he didn’t sense anyone else around and Jack already _knew_ , pulled his mask off so he could look him in the eye. “I… _we_ could help you. The rest of the septics- they’d do anything to help you, Jack.”

              “O̶ḩ,” Jack said, voice quiet. For a second, Chase really thought Jack might be considering what he said, than- “Dơes t̢hat ͜m͢ean ͢y̸ou'r͘e͠ ̛act͏u͟a̶ll̸y͜ a ͟p̵art ̨of̡ ͘the͞ Sep͡ţi҉cs, no̵w?̸” he asked. Chase winced, and Jack burst out laughing. “You̴ ̛al͝wa̶ys wer̛e ͏ _s̷o̧_ easy to rea̡d͜, Cha̶s̡ęr! W̨ha͜t̶'s̡ ̛w̕ro͟n͠g- ̡can̡'t̶ st̷a͡nd̢ ͡t̨he̴ t͏ho̷u͜ght͢ of ͢y̷o̢u͞r ̴ _b͏ab̨y͜ brot͜her̶_ gr͢o̶wi̷ng u͏p in̷to a̧ ͠ _mo͡nste̷r͘_ ?͏” He asked, his form growing- _buzzier_ , for lack of another room, static in cutting his form before he glitched again, his voice and his static cutting off sharply as he _disappeared_ , before Chase heard the _buzz_ of static behind him. He spun, firing another web- but this time it passed right through Jack, like he wasn’t even _there_.

              “D̨o̸n't̶ ̧kn̢ơw ͝w̛h͘er̴e y͡o̷u͜ g͟o͠t͡ t̷h̕e̸ sp̵įder̨ ͢p̢o̢wer̢s ̢f̷r҉ǫm͘ C͠h̶aser͝, b̶ut ͡t͏he͘y͡'̴re ͝ne̷a̡t,͡ I'll̴ ̨give ͡you̢ t͝ha͠t.̢” Jack stepped forward, and Chase lept back, hitting the back wall of the ally and automatically jumping onto it. Jack knelt down and picked his knife back up and turned it over in his hand. Chase shot another web at Jack- this time, he noticed Jack glitched just before the web hit, and it passed through him. “But̢ ̕it'̕s͏ ͟t͜oo lit̵tl̷e, ̧t͡oo l̡at͟e I'͝m̛ a͞fra͘i͝d. ̨I̢ wa̡s h͠o͜p̧i͟n͡g̢ ̷t͢o̷ ̸tak̴e S̨ean͘ ̴out͡ ̧fir̛st, but͠ ͢hey.͡..͡ le͜t͝'͘s̸ ̕se̛e ̸how ̵l͟on͡g͘ ͘i̢t t̶a͢kes a̕ sp͞i̕d͝e͞r ̕t͟o bl̛e͢ed to ̴d͝e͡a͢ţh~” another giggle- another glitch-

              Chase fully expected another attack, clinging to the wall to keep one side protected as he look wildly around, ready to zip off if needed. But his spider sense was completely quiet, and nothing leapt out of him for an entire tense minute. Chase finally had to conclude that Jack was gone, allowing himself to slip off the wall and back onto solid ground- but he felt like the world was rolling under him for all the good it was doing him. He steady himself against the wall he’d previously been ‘crawling on, feeling absolutely nothing like a hero and shaking like a leaf.

              He lifted his gaze and stared at the body for what seemed like an eternity, slumping against the wall, before some shred of common sense came back to him and he dug around in his pack for his phone. The call was automatic, something he didn’t even think about as he gave the police his location and description of the body, but the moment they asked him if he’d seen who did it he slammed his finger on the end call button… followed by him banging his head on the brick wall next to him. He stayed like that for several tense seconds, trying to just take a moment and breathe- before reminding himself he didn’t know where the closest police unit was, and he couldn’t be found standing here wearing his Spider suit. Still- it seemed to more strength than he’d normally need to pull the mask back over his head.

              Somewhere in the back of his mind, it occured to Chase that they were going to call back. It’d be weird of them not to- so Chase shut off his phone, threw it back in his pack, and took off towards the skys. He wanted to clear his head- but it seemed to do the exact opposite, the world jerking around him like he’d hit a wall, nearly falling right back out of the sky when it took him three times to hit his next target. He stretched out his right arm and _FUCK_!

              Once he was aware of the pain, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He managed to find another deserted looking spot to land, nearly collapsing the moment his feet touched back down. His hand went to his side, where he’d been cut- he felt the blood that had seeped into his suit first, than realized the cut was _still there_ . Oh- no, no no no, that’s _not_ how this worked! Even before he’d been bitten by that spider, his powers had always included thick skin, fast healing, and the ability to go unnoticed when he desired- great powers for keeping himself safe, lousy for becoming the hero he’d always wanted to be. But- he’d been hurt worse than this before, but this time he wasn't healing. At all.

              Chase shook his head, trying to remember how much blood someone could lose before they blacked out. That didn’t seem like it mattered, not if he stayed here. He needed help.

              His first thought was Schneep- but… No. He couldn’t. What would he even _tell_ him?

              “Hey, my dead brother stabbed me?”

              Oh god.

              He couldn’t say it.

              He couldn’t even think straight.

              He needed _help_.

              Somewhere, in the back of his head, he had a plan. He knew this city like the back of his hand- he knew where the nearest hospital was. And he knew a good place to hide his suit, until he could come back for it later.

              Hand on his side, trying to stop the bleeding- it didn’t make sense that he’d be stabbed but his shirt was _fine_ -

              Tearing it, hoping no one noticed the difference, the blood that caked it to his skin hid that little detail anyhow-

              Jack flashed through his head, he swore he could still hear that _giggling_ -

              An arm around him- there were sounds like voices underwater-

              Where…

              A bright light above him…

              Someone in a doctors coat flashed in front of his vision, so familiar it was like a punch to the gut. But- he couldn’t-

              Everything was so white…

              There was something on his face- he tried to reach for it but his hand wouldn’t respond-

              Everything was fuzzy-

              Tired...

 

…...

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              Chase shot upright in a hospital bed, sucking in a sudden breath of air. His eyes darted around the darkened room- wah- where was… why…

              He felt a hand on his shoulder, turning and yanking back before he even fully recognized the face staring back at him. Ja- no, Seán flinched, holding up his hands and meeting Chase’s eyes, saying something that Chase couldn’t hear over the pounding of his ears. Chase turned away, burying his face in his hands and taking a slow, forced breath, feeling the way his side pulled uncomfortably with the action. He became aware of a distant beeping- a heart monitor, and slowly the sound got clearer and clearer, until he gulped and felt his ears _pop_ as sound came rushing back to him.

              “-’re okay, Chase.” Seán’s voice came back to him, calm but worried. He could feel Seán’s hand on his shoulder- he slowly lifted his head, blinking, before meeting Seán’s eyes for a second time. It was late- Seán was sitting in a chair besides Chase’s hospital bed, he’d probably been since- how… how long had he been out? Of course the hospital had contacted his family, he’d probably worried everyone _sick_ . Schneep was gonna be _so_ mad at him. Oh no- what were the kids going through? Had they been told?

              “Seán?” Chase whispered. He forced himself to uncurl, wincing at the stab of pain from his side, and leaned back in his bed. “How… how long was I…”

              “Uh,” Seán glanced up at a clock ticking away on the wall. “About… twelfth hours? Thirteen? But, um, you were.” Seán paused, glancing back at Chase with concern written all over his face. “Chase, you were in that operating room for _ten_ of those. They thought- they were _sure_ you weren't going to make it.”

              Chase felt himself freeze over. “Wait, but… it was just…” He coughed, discovering that it was hard for him to talk right now.

              “There was some kind of poison on the wound- it just kept bleeding, they’d never seen anything like it before.” Seán explained, leaning closer. “Chase… I know what your powers can do, you’d _never_ just bleed out like that. Who- what _happened_ to you?”

              Chase turned away, closing his mouth with a soft click. He clenched the sheets under his hands too stop them from shaking too badly. He heard Seán call his name again, softly, but he ignored him, closing his eyes. He could almost _see_ Jack, in his mind’s eye, a perfect snapshot that he compared to the last time they’d been in a room together. What… what had _happened_ to him? He shuttered, curling in on himself again. He felt- tired. Really, really, tired.

              He was waking before he even realized he’d fallen back asleep. It was… brighter. Morning, afternoon. Chase didn’t know. He turned his head to the side- but Seán’s chair was empty. Footsteps- the clicking of a hard heel on a tiled floor came from Chase’s other side, and he turned his head back to see a Doctor approaching with a clipboard. He felt the strongest sense of deja vu- his mind flashed back to when he stumbled into the hospital, the actual way he’d gotten here lost, and his mind pulled up an image of this doctor being the one to run towards him. But, there was something else- something remarkable familiar.

              The doctor glanced up, lowering his clipboard so that his face was unobscured and- oh. Chase had heard, once, that Mark had a brother who was a doctor. The family resemblance was remarkable- even more so than it was in the McLoughlin family. Chase moved to sit up, only for the doctor to put a gentle hand on his chest, keeping him down.

              “No, no. Not yet.” the doctor said, meeting Chases eyes. Chase felt himself twitch, but didn’t realize why. “I’m Dr. Iplier. It’s french.” he explained, automatically. Huh. Must have married into that name. “I’m the one who operated on you, Chase. It was… a close call. Thankfully, we managed to stop the bleeding, and get you stitched up. And a touch of glue- doctors secrets.”

              Dr. Iplier smiled and winked, lifting his finger to his lips in a way that made Chase feel like he was supposed to laugh, or chuckle- but he didn’t really feel like it. Dr. Iplier smiled, tapping his clipboard. “Ah… nevermind. Well, you’ll be happy to learn you’re in good health. And with your powers, assuming all goes well, you should be back to normal in no time. A couple week to a month, or perhaps less if, say, you were to talk to your _uncle_.”

              Chase flinched at that, even though he’d been actively trying to repress it. Dr. Ipleir glanced up, then looked back at his clipboard and continued. “Everyone in your family we talked to said you have a close relationship to Doctor Schneeplestein. I’m sure, if you weren't struggling with blood loss, you would have gotten in contact with him sooner- in fact, I believe he’s waiting for a call from you. As are the police, they want to know more about the women you found stabbed to death. You can call them whenever you ready to talk, but I’d _heavily_ recommend you do so sooner than later.”

              “Yeah.” Chase muttered. Shit, what was he going to say?

              “Also,” Dr. Iplier gestured to Chase’s side. “I’d avoid any and all running or strenuous activity unless you want to open your wound again and die- at least until you get it healed, at least.”

              “Right.” Chase nods, than glances away, his eyes idly falling on the clock. “Um… how long do I have to stay here?”

              “Well…” Dr. Iplier smiled. “I’m _not_ supposed to do this… but I suppose if you promise to go _straight_ to you uncle, I can bend the rules and let you out early.” he promised.

              “I… yeah, definitely.” Chase lied. He sat up, and this time Dr. Iplier let him. “I’ll do that.”

              “All right then. I’ll get you the spare clothes your wife left you.” Dr. Iplier promised, spinning on a heel and leaving the room. He returned a few minutes with- oh. Chase’s backpack. If there was one thing Stacy could have shoved his clothes in, thank goodness it was that- and it didn’t seem like anyone had looked too closely at it either- this one _did_ just look like a normal backpack.

              Chase couldn’t describe how good it felt to get out of the hospital gown and back into his own clothing again. He hadn’t even fully realized how much he hated it until after he’d stripped out of it, and realized he didn’t feel very different from wearing the gown to wearing nothing. Moving his right arm sucked- but it was doable, especially if he went slowly. Dr. Iplier saw him out of the hospital himself, even, taking him out a side entrance that was ‘faster’ than passing the front desk, watching Chase until he’d disappeared down the street.

              Dr. Iplier closed the door, turning on a heel and headed straight back to his office. He closed the door behind him, returning to his desk and opening its third drawer on the left side, pulling out an old phone. It had one number saved too it… a number he called as he kicked his feet up on the desk, humming a little tune to himself. The phone picked up- and a computerized voice spoke from the other side.

              “Hey, Google.” Dr. Iplier said. He paused, a smiled crossing his face, followed by a chuckle. “Oh, relax. You know I’d _never_ say _that_ word, followed by your name.” he promised, holding up crossed fingers, unseen. “But nevermind that- I’ve got a message for Dark.”

              “It works.”

 

\-----

 

              Chase wasn’t sure if the twitching was normal or not.

              He’s gotten _stabbed_ \- and apparently poisoned in the same move, so it made sense he’d be a little shaken up. Still- there was something… _off_ about this, in a way he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Every step seemed to bring another twitch, and they seemed to just be getting worse the further he walked. Plus, the more he tried to surprise them, the more his body seemed to want to hit him over the head with headache.

              Still, he’d been hurt worse. It hadn’t taken him this long to heal, but apparently this was an edge case. Chase was honestly more concerned with what was going on within his head- he _knew_ Jack was out there, and Jack was a _threat_. He had to tell someone, at some point, or they’d inevitable find out on their own. He shuddered at the thought- but at the same time, the idea of opening up about it made him wanna bite down on his tongue, like if he just didn’t mention it it’d go away on his own. Which it wouldn’t- he knew better.

              Chase rubbed his arm- it was kinda cold today, he wished Stacy had packed him an outfit. He hadn’t noticed it was cold when he’d left the hospital, and even then, he’d only become gradually aware of it. Another twitch. Ah, well. Maybe the temperature had only just started to drop. Or maybe the hospital had giving him something to numb the-

              He stopped dead in his tracks, staring straight ahead. Chase felt like the world's biggest idiot.

              Taking a turn into an alleyway, Chase snuck out of sight to a small side street between the buildings. He leaned back on the brick wall of one of the buildings, closing his eyes and focusing on _source_ of that twitching. His head felt like he was waddling through waist deep water, and he clung to that familiar feeling until he broke through and smashed directly into the alarm bells his spider sense had been trying to send his ways. Fucking- Chase dropped the backpack onto the ground.

              He didn’t have anything sharp on him to cut into the back, so instead he just grabbed two different parts of the nylon and pulled unto something tore, letting him rip into the seam  and pull out his secret. A spare suit- folded and pressed as thin as possible to fit in unnoticed, this one lacking the belt and pack of his normal suits just too make it fit. He shouldn’t do this, he thought, as he immediately got changed. He shouldn’t do this, but he wasn’t doing anything to stop himself. This time he left his normal clothes in his backpack, webbing it up high on a wall out of reach, and set off.

               _Shit_ -

              Relying _heavily_ on his left side, Spider-Man followed his screaming spider sense to wherever the fuck it wanted to take him so badly. It didn’t even seem to be that fair- he probably could have ended up walking right into the danger and not even realize it until he was already there. He dropped down onto the roof of a building directly in front of him, taking a moment crouched on the roof to just catch his breath, before standing and walking towards the edge of the roof so he could finally get this whole thing over with-

              Oh.

              OH _SHIT_!

               _JACKIEBOY WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!_

              The first thing he saw was Jackieboy Man go flying into the side of a building, making his chest tighten despite knowing you could have _dropped_ the building onto him and Jackie’d be fine. Jackieboy even stood back up a second later, seemingly unfazed by the attack as he slid reflexively into a battle stance, eyes locked on his foe further down the street. Spider-Man turned his head to follow Jackie’s gaze, and that’s when he saw _him_ , stepping forward with his hands spread like a ringmaster under the spotlight, grin relaxed and posture open, as if he were greeting an old friend.

              “Ah, common ol’ chap.” Wilford _fucking motherloving_ Warfstache called out, a cheery ring to his voice. “At least _consider_ my offer, huh? I _know_ you’ve given interviews before, this wouldn’t be _that_ different.”

              Jackieboy didn’t respond, instead clenching his fists as green electricity began to visibly run up and down his fists, collecting in his hands _and why the fuck WAS HE TRYING TO TAKE WARFSTACHE ON BY HIMSELF?!_ Jackie shot forward, leaving a flash of red and blue behind him as he launched himself directly at the villain and seasoned reporter, electricity exploding into a shower of sparks around him. The _thud_ when he hit the ground created a crater in the streets- but Warfstache was nowhere to be seen.

              Spider-Man was already back in the air by the time Warfstache appeared, gun pressed to the back of Jackie’s head, a sigh in the back of his throat. If it were anyone else, the gun would have been laughable- but Warfstache’s powers, whatever the fuck they were, seemed to _break reality_ . Warfstache just gave a little chuckle, hardly even looking at Jackie, who’d frozen briefly in shock, as Wilford pulled back the hammer on his gun. “Ah, now let’s not be like _that_ , shall we?”

              Warfstache pulled the trigger- and Spider-Man slammed into Jackie’s side, shoving the other hero out of the way as his spider sense finally went quiet again. Warfstache looked up, tongue clicking as his eyes landed on Spider-Man before his eyes seemed to practically _sparkle_ , his gun chucked behind him as he stepped forward, _beaming_ . “AH! Spider-Man! With a hyphen, I believe?” Wilford shook his head, chuckling. “Oh, you’re even _better_! Imagine it, me, you, Spider-Man’s first interview- ever!”

              Jackieboy moved first, leaping back and up- for a second, Spider-Man thought that Jackie was actually going to retreat for once, only for him to throw a bolt of lightning at Warfstache from afar. Spider-Man thwipped out of the way, landing on the top of light post further down the street and out of the way, turning back in time to see Warfstache brushing himself off like nothing happened. He saw Jackie leaping in for another attack- but this time his webs hit the back of Jackieboy’s jacket, yanking him back and landing under the post Spider-Man was standing on.

              “What are you _doing_ ?!” Jackieboy yelled up at him, trying to yank the webs off himself and accidentally getting suck to his hands. Spider-Man opened his mouth to respond- than immendently closed it again. His mind flashed back to the alleyway with Jack- then followed it up with confusion. Wait a minute- his masks all had built in voice altering microphones… he _didn’t_ sound like himself at all when he was wearing these masks, otherwise his brothers would have recognized his voice on tv ages ago. How _had_ Jack recognized him so easily?

              “So?” Warfstache asked, suddenly standing on the pole next to Spider-Man. “Wadda say?”

              Spider-Man’s incredibly manly response was to shriek and jump off the pole, flinging himself onto the roof of a nearby building. Jackieboy took to the air a moment later, flying closer towards Spider-Man so that he was hovering between him and Warfstache. Warfstache- did he just roll his eyes? “Oh, please Jackieman-child!” Warfstache called out, making a ‘shoo’ motion with his hands. “You’re _so_ last minutes news, time to let the big boys talk!”

              “On the subject of what _I’m_ doing-” Spider-Man gesturing wildly between him and Warfstache, even thought Jackie had his back turned. “What about _you_ ?! You hit your head too hard on that wall or something? _WHY_ are you trying to take _Warfstache_ on by _yourself_ ?! I get it- you’re a strong guy and all that, yadda yadda yadda top of hero academy or where ever you guys train, but taking that guy on 1 v 1? That’s just _suicidal_!”

              “Ah-hah! See!” Warfstache yelled, pointing excitedly at Spider-Man. “Even he says its a 1 v1… so there’s no room for _you_ to keep _wasting_ my time.” he jumped at that moment- and he probably would have hit the ground, except he somehow managed to grab the pole and spin around it as he slid down, managing to catching himself by grabbing the pole before he hit the street in… what look like a pole dancers position, legs kicked up and one hand on his forehead. What the fuck.

              Jackie huffed, flying closer to Spider-Man seemingly just so he could see him cross his arms. “Oh, really? Well, what do _you_ think I’m supposed to do, then? Just… _walk away_ and leave this guy roaming the streets?” He pointed a accusing finger at Warfstache and- wait, did he have popcorn? Where’d he get popcorn?! “I came here to _stop_ him!”

              “You-” Spider-Man paused, sucking in a breath. “Wait, back up. You came here… _alone_ , to stop him? You _knew_ Warfstache would be here, and you _didn’t bring backup_?”

              “I invited him to ask if he wanted to have an interview, duh.” Warfstache said, suddenly standing right next to Spider-Man on the roof, with a knife at his throat. Oh- sure, _yeah_ , _NOW_ his spider sense was going off. “I don’t know why he bothered to _show up_ if he was just gonna get all _prickly_ about it.”

              Jackie punched Warfstache in the face, sending the other man sprawling backwards across the roof. Spider-Man followed it up with webbing Warfstache’s wrists to the roof- but apparently he was 0-2 today, cause Warfstache literally just slipped his wrists out from under the webbing like the _weren't even sticky at all, alright!_ Spider-Man let out a string of colorful curses as he went left handed back into the sky, aiming without looking and ending _back up on the light pole ARE YOU SERIOUS_ ?! This didn’t work out the FIRST time, are you _kidding_ reflexes?! What happen to the supernatural sixth sense he was supposed to have?

              It was in the moment, for his own sanity, that Spider-Man made the conscious choice to believe Warfstaches mere presence alone was screwing with his powers.

              He only caught sight of the electricity from the corner of his eye, turning back to the roof just in time to see an explosion of dust and pink glitter go off, enveloping the rooftop, before a figure flew out and hit the streets below. Against all odds, it was _Warfstache_ who picked himself up off the ground, taking a moment to straighten his suspenders and fix his hair. Jackie appeared a moment later, obviously trying not to give Warfstache a moment to rest as he flung himself back down at Warfstache- who merely sidestepped this time, instead of teleporting or whatever the fuck he was doing.

              Warfstache sighed, brushing imaginary sweat off his brow. He didn’t even look tired, to be honest. “I swear!” Warfstache proclaimed. “But I don’t mean literal swearing, Spider-Boy’s doing enough of that for the three of us.” he half whispered at Jackie, hiding the side of his mouth with his hand before dropping it, clearing his throat to speak normally. “Back in my day, heroes _waited their turns_ when it was time for a good ol ruff and tumble- everyone's in too much of a hurry these days!”

              “Hey, Warfstache!” Spider-Man yelled, already firing both web shooters at a newspaper vending machine (they had to have a shorter name than that, right?) and yanking it as hard as he could. His injured side screamed at him, but he ignored it, swinging it in a big arch around the street to build momentum. “You want some news this badly- take it!”

              It was at that same moment- timed better than Spider-Man realized it would happen- that the machine hit Warfstache and sent him flying back down the street, papers flying everywhere. Jackie chose that moment to send another bolt of green electricity towards Warfstache, sending papers bursting into flame and briefly lightening up the street. For a second, Warfstache actually stayed down, before rolling over and getting onto a knee, rubbing his side.

              “Now, I’m going to be honest with you- I don’t know which hurt more. The attack, or the fact it was a _pun_ .” Warfstache admitted, staggering to his feet (was that real or was he faking it?) and stretching out. “Now, I have half a mind to think you guys actually wanted to _hurt_ me, but that’s just me-”

               _Helloheyhowdy~ Helloheyhowdy~_

              “Oh!” Warfstache paused, digging around his pockets and pulling out a phone that was… ringing with the sound of his own voice. “That’s mine- one moment, please.” He turned away, holding the phone up and making a few ah-mmm’s and uh-huhs, before shaking his head. “I didn’t get any of that- oh, _phooy_ , _fine_.”

              He shut the phone, sighing and shaking his head again, before grinning at the heroes. “Gotta go~” he chirped, voice unnaturally high, giving them a two finger salute and then- _poof_ , gone in a cloud of pink glitter. Of _fucking course_ -

              Spider-Man sighed, already feeling the adrenaline all but literally seeping out of him and landing on the street below, leaving nothing but a hurting, tired shell in its place. This was the single worst fight he’s ever been in during his run- and he was calling it, it’d probably go down in his deliberately avoided memories as the worst one he’d even been in for the rest of his life, too. He had already lifted his wrists, taking a few seconds longer than normal to aim, ready to take off without a second thought when he felt the rush of air being displaced next to him, moments before Jackie’s gloved hand clapped over his wrist to block the shooter.

              “Now, wait _one_ second.” Jackieboy said. “I don’t believe we’ve… officially met.”

              “Nope, I don’t think so either. Why, do you think we’ve unofficially met? Oh! Are you secretly that guy I always see on twitter posting pictures of his cats in funny outfits?” Spider-Man asked, making up a twitter person on the fly- well that account probably really existed somewhere out in the world, but the important part was that he kept his tone light and friendly while he was _screaming_ inside.

              “That’s not what I-” Jackie smacked his forehead, pausing to take a deep breathe before resuming eye contact with Spider-Man. It wasn’t hard- his spider suit had big eyes to look at. “Look. I don’t know what your _deal_ is. I don’t know what _tragic_ backstory you have that motivated you to become a vigilante crime fighter, and you know what? I don’t _care_ .” Jackie flew closer, so they were practically nose to nose. It took the threat of making his injury hurt worse to stop Spider-Man from leaning alone. “But _you_ listen to _me_ , right here, right now.”

              “I’ve got family in this city. I’ve got a job I _love_ and citizens, fan’s and critics alike, to defend.” Jackie gestured around himself, flouting back slightly to do so. Maybe he wasn’t aware of it- but their was electricity sparking around his arms. For once- despite his bright colors and friendly costume, Jackie looked _exactly_ like the stormcloud his powers made him into. “I don’t know _what_ you endgame is- I don’t care. But if I ever so much as _think_ you’re putting anyone I care about in danger, family or otherwise? I’m not gonna hesitate to make sure you won’t be able to swing around all willy nilly in this city again.”

              Chase winced. The threat implied so many things- from ‘break you arms’ to ‘everytime you take to the sky I’ll hit you with lightning’ to ‘legal action’, and he wasn’t exactly eager to see which it ended up being. Especially not since, literally every time he put on the mask, he put one particular family member in grave danger. Heck, earlier today they were in the hospital! Spider-Man just nodded mutely, unable to find the words. Jackie finally backed off enough for Spider-Man to swing off, arms crossed and eyes tracking his every move as he took off towards the sky.

              It was only when Spider Man disappeared among the sea of buildings that Jackie allowed himself to relax, just a little. He glanced around at the destruction his agency would have to pay for, feeling bad for whoever had to work around here. Hopefully no one needed a newspaper from _this street_ in particular. And maybe… just a teensy little bit bad about how he’d talked to Spider Man, too. That anger wasn’t even _for_ Spider Man, it was pent up rage from…

              Jackieboy Man took off back along his patrol route, trying to pretend like nothing had happened, and failing spectacularly at it. He was supposed to be the best of the best- among them, anyways. He’d seen the numbers- he wasn’t allowed to talk about it publically, but in terms of how many fights he’d won on average mixed with his public popularity? Well, within the boundaries of _this_ city, behind only the SIlver Shepard. Countrywide, he wasn’t sure if number one was still held by Felix or if the stuff he’d heard had knocked him down, and worldwide- well, that was a whole other ballgame. Both his sisters were in that ballgame, he’d add with pride. Off busy saving the world, while he kept the home city safe.

              And failed spectacularly at keeping his brother safe.

              An image of Chase flew back into his mind- hurt, pale, the doctors barely able to pump enough blood into him to keep him alive. They’d had to cut his shirt off of him just to get to the stab wound- cause that’s what it was. It didn’t _seem_ real- that Chase, out of _any_ of them, would be the one taken down by what the doctors estimated to be a normal kitchen knife- if not for the poison. And they could have never known- Chase could have _died_ , his body dumped off somewhere, and as far as they’d have known- _poof_ , just disappeared into mid-air one day. Jackie would always have to live with that fact that, when Chase _really_ needed a hero, he was off making plans to meet up with Warfstache in the hopes of bringing him down- and it didn’t even _fucking_ work.

              He felt like the world’s worst brother.

               _“Seán?_ ” Schneep’s voice cut through his brooding. Ah- right. His earpiece had been off for about ten minutes by this point, at which point it automatically turned itself back on. It was apparently a safety feature. “ _Kan you hear vee? Is this zink on?_ ”

              “Yeah.” Jackie paused to actually look around the city under him, hovering in place. He almost wanted to call off his parol- get someone else in too cover for him. “Yes, I’m here. Everything good?”

              “ _Ah, yes- I mean NO, everyzink is not how you say, ‘good’._ ” Scheep said, his accent thicker than normal, voice rushed out fast enough Jackie was almost surprised Schneep didn’t just switch to German. He felt himself stiffen a little at the restrained panic in his voice, ready to bolt any direction needed, screw what he was going through. “ _It’s about- oh, how do I say zis file causink zee leasht amount of panik to you? zee hoshpital… zey seem to hafe let Chase go home EARLY, and ALONE, and no one can find zee Doctor vho operated on him and let him out._ ”

              Jackie felt like his blood was going to freeze over. Instead when he looked down he found sparks at his fingertips. He gulped, feeling like he wasn’t _quite_ registering Schneep’s words just yet. His silence stretched on long enough that he probably started to worry his uncle, given that when Schneep spoke again his words were slightly rushed.

              “ _Seán, ve’re looking for zee Doctor right now_ .” Schneep promised, as if _that_ was what Jackie cared about right now. “ _But- I’d like you to find Chase. He should shtill be somevhere betveen his house and zee hoshpital, eizer valking or on a bus. He’s hurt- having someone to vatch over him might be jusht vat he needs, before somezing- um…_ ”

              Seán had watched over Chase already- every moment the doctors allowed Seán to be by his side or watching over him from afar, he’d been watching Chase, terrified that the moment he tore his eyes away would be the moment Chase slipped away. He was there the first time Chase woke up- that moment when _Chase_ had been the one who was terrified, before the drugs lured him back under, as if he couldn’t tell friend from foe, Seán from his attacker. He wanted to find him- _needed_ to find whoever hurt Chase and make sure they were behind bars where they’d never hurt anyone ever again.

              He was off before he even had to think twice about it- high in the sky, even above the buildings that limited where Spider Man could go.

 

\-----

 

              Chase.

              Felt.

              Like.

              Shit.

              By the time he’d stumbled up the steps to his home, two spider suits stuffed into his backpack and a city behind him, Chase was ready to do nothing by but fall into bed and nap for the next five years. The door was unlocked, and he slipped inside quietly. The kids should still be in school at this hour, he noted as he finally got a clear glance at a clock when he spotted the one on his living room wall, passing through to his secret room. Both suits were stuffed under the floor- he’d deal with them later, much, _much_ later-

              He heard the footsteps first, reclosing his little secret spider stash and pulling himself up off the floor, all but dumping himself into his desk chair. Stacy appeared in the door a moment later, seemingly more mildly annoyed than anything, briefly glancing Chase over. “Chase.” she said, curt and short. “The hospital called and said you’d been let out early- guess that healing of yours is good for something after all. I bought spare bandages, if you need to change them.”

              “I- thank you.” Chase said, brushing hair away from his eyes and using it as an excuse to check that the flooring was securely in place. “Um… Stac, what did you tell the kids?” he asked, hesitant.

              “That you were sick, needed to stay in the hospital for a bit.” Stacy said. Chase glanced back up in time to see her roll her eyes and gesture him to come out of his room. Chase forced himself out of his chair, following her into their living room while closing the door to his room behind him. “Seriously,” Stacy began, shaking her head. “What is _wrong_ with you? What did you even do- run into that robbers knife?”

              Chase winced.

              “No- I didn’t know the knife could _do_ this to me Stac.” Chase explained, a hand brushing against his wound. “Besides- I don’t think he was a robber. I think he… if I hadn’t stepped in, he could have just kept stabbing anyone else he could get his hands on.” The hurt to say- he could still remember the pure joy in Jack’s voice when he’d talked about stabbing that woman. He shuttered. “Someone _had_ to step in and try to stop him.”

              “You didn’t even _know_ that woman- why didn’t you just call the police in the first place? You know you’re not _invincible_ \- this,” she gestured at his side, than crossed her arms. “Just proves it. You put _me_ , and _everyone_ else, through all this- and for what? So you could _play_ hero? You had _no right_ , Chase.”

              “That’s not- I wasn’t pretending-” Well shit, that was a big ol’ lie… just not for the reasons Stacy thought. Chase cleared his throat, trying again. “I have a license for this kinda thing, Stacy. If I can step in, I don’t have a right _to_ just stand by and watch.”

              Stacy rolled her eyes. “Ah, right. The license. You realize that if you had _literally_ any other last name in the world, they wouldn’t have been so quick too-”

              “That’s not true!” Chase butt in, even though it probably absolutely 100 percent was actually true and he _knew_ it. He had another second afterwards where he had time to go _oh… shit_.

              A second in which Stacy froze, mouth still open in shock, before snapping shut as her face dropped into a tight, contained anger. She pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes fluttering closed for a second as she took in a deep breath- then she composed herself and slapped Chase.

              It didn’t really hurt- Stacy didn’t have powers, but it still stung enough to make him pull back, a hand pressed to his cheek. It wouldn’t even leave a mark, not when Stacy used her hands anyways. He watched silently while Stacy stomped off, grumbling under her breath as she busied herself with tidying up a few loose things around the room, back to Chase. After a minute or so, it became clear she wasn’t going to resume the conversation. Chase took that as his cue to slip off, heading towards the bathroom.

              He closed the door behind him with a soft click, leaning on it for a second to just _breathe_ . He let his head fall back against the wood of the door with a soft _clunk_ , eyes closed, just stalling. After a few quiet seconds he finally pushed himself off the door and turned his eyes to the mirror above the sink- just like he’d thought, he didn’t look anything but tired. He roll the bottom of his shirt under his hands, pulling it up to see his bandages reflexed in the mirror. He’d been bleeding again- he was surprised they hadn’t bleed over into his shirt, actually, between the fight and the walk home. With one hand, he worked on removing the shirt, and his other open the cabinet quickly to grab the spare bandages.

               _Buzzbuzz_

              Chase dug his phone out of his pocket, tossing his shirt onto the side of the counter. He’d gotten a text from Seán- a couple actually. He unlocked his phone, leaning on the counter for a second to read them.

**[Hey Chase, the hospital called and said**

**they let you go home early. Just wanted**

**to make sure you made it home okay.]**

 

**[I’ve got some free time, if you wanted**

**me to come over and hang out while**

**you recovered?]**

              The first- yeah he expected that. But as for the offer- Chase paused, thumb hovering over the phone. Normally he looked forward to any chance he got to see his brothers, somewhere other than on a screen that is, but right now? He didn’t think he could look Seán in the eyes right now.

**[Naw, I think I just need some time**

**To relax at home]**

              He began to unwind the bandages from around his waist, wincing at the sight of his wound. It still looked- bad. Another text came in- this time Seán was saying that they were worried about him. Great. That made him feel better. He didn’t answer right away, hands shaking as he did his best to clean the wound and rebandaged himself, thinking about what he was going to say. Once he was done, he didn’t have an excuse to wait any longer, picking his phone back up.

**[It’s no really that bad, you guys have**

**enough to worry about without adding**

**me to the pile.]**

              It didn’t look like it wasn’t really that bad.

              Seán felt bad, spying on Chase like this. He’d followed Chase home, just to make sure he’d gotten back safely. He’d nearly left then and there too, watching Chase through the living room windows. Than- well, it had taken everything Seán had not to burst in, right there and then. He still felt like he made the wrong choose. He began to text Chase again, promising him that he could tell them anything- then sent it, eyes glancing up into the bathroom window, to see if Chase reacted.

**[You can tell us anything you need**

**too, you know that right?]**

              Chase read the messages and froze, glancing back up at himself in the mirror. He took a deep breath, and then another, gripping the edge of the sink and meeting his eyes, having a second of clear thought that he was shaking pretty badly. Then he watched tears start falling from his eyes, and be broke down completely. It was almost a relief, he thought distinctly at himself, his head buried in his hands as tears rolled as freely as his shoulders, a choked sob escaping him. He hadn’t felt like he’d been dealing with any of the shit that had happened to him lately, but now a wall had been knocked over in his head and everything was finally coming loose.

              He chucked his phone across the bathroom- it hit the wall and dropped to the floor, and Chase followed it soon after, back against the counter he’d been using for support since he stepped in. He couldn’t do this anymore. It was too much, too heavy, he was going to burst if he didn’t share his secret with _somebody_ . He reached a shaking hand towards his phone, then yanked it back. What would Seán say- what would he _do_ , would he even believe Chase? What if he lashed out? Chase shuttered, forcing himself to pick up the phone. He clenched it in his fist- he couldn’t steady himself enough to text, but he had it.

              Somewhere in the back of his head, he remembered he had to control his breathing. In through his nose, hold for three seconds, out. In, hold, out. In, hold, out. A steady rhythm he could focus on, something so simple even _he_ couldn’t fuck it up, and he slowly felt himself coming back to himself. He sat up straight, blinking the moisture out of his eyes as he rubbed at them with the back of one hand, texting with the other. Thank god for autocorrect.

**[I need to tell you something]**

**[face to face]**

**[I’m sorry]**

              It was a good thing Chase wanted to talk, because Seán was already standing on his front doorstep. He raised a fist and knocked, barely holding himself back from bursting in by himself. It occured to Seán that he was still dressed as Jackieboy- this probably looked _weird_. Before he could think about that to much, however, the door swung open, Stacy on the other side.

              “Oh- Jackie.” Stacy was the last person Seán wanted to see right now, but he let her talk. “You must be here to see Chase right? Well, come in, you can wait in the living room while I get Chase.” she said, stepping back and inviting him inside. He marched right passed her, standing in the middle of the living room while he listened to her footsteps disappear further into the house, than a second, slightly louder pair growing louder as they got closer. He turned as Chase entered the living room, meeting his eyes.

              Chase looked like shit, which just made Seán feel like the worst brother in the fucking world. Great. Just great. Chase looked away, rubbing his arm. Seán opened his mouth to say something, managed to get out a breath as his mind blanked, than rubbed the back of his head. He remembered he was still wearing his hood at that moment, lowering it and pulling his mask off without a second thought. “Hey.” he managed.

              “Hey.” Chase echoed. “Um… you might wanna take a seat for this.”

              Seán was on the couch in an instant, Chase following behind and sitting on the opposite side. Chase glanced over, so clearly unsure, closed off. Chase cleared his throat. “So… that was quick.”

              He wasn’t talking about the couch, and Seán knew it. He just shrugged. “Yeah. I am, I guess. You uh, you said you wanted to talk about something?”

              Chase winced, pulling back a little and rubbing his hands together. “Yeah, I uh…” he looked away again. “I’m worried you aren't gonna believe me, or you’ll hate me from keeping this from you. But- I didn’t mean to keep it a secret, everything's just been happening so fast, and the more I don’t say it the harder it is _to say it_ , and I just can’t-”

              “Chase,” Seán cut him off, voice soft, leaning closer and hoping he was keeping his posture unthreatening. Chase had a habit of rambling when he got worked up. “You can tell me anything, you know that?”

              A nod, a deep breath, and he met Seán’s gaze one more.

              “Jack stabbed me.” Chase blurted out, hand going to his side. “He’s- he’s _not dead_ , Seán. I don’t know _what_ they _did_ to him- but it was _him_ . His voice, his power, his personality- but _twisted_ , and warped- he called me _Chaser_ \- no ones done that since we were _kids_!”

              Seán felt himself freeze. His first thought, yes, was denial… but they’d never found a body. He’d just _disappeared_ , and they’d only found out afterwards he’d been doing extra hero work on his own, alone, while no one was looking. He’d been strong- all the same powers as Seán, maybe even stronger. And… his mind flashed back to the hospital, when Chase had seen him and his first reaction had been _fear_ . Sure, everyone in their family looked kinda alike, but there’s been nothing like the comparison between Seán and Jack- his literal twin. Even _Seán_ couldn’t tell himself apart from his brother in old photos- of what he thought had been a dead brother, the one he’d named his hero persona after.

              He scooted over on the couch, reaching over to Chase and pulling him into a hug. Chase froze, than relaxed, wrapping his arms back around Seán. He could feel the tension slowly seep out of Chase’s body, and waited as long as he could before he had to break it.

              “The others deserve to know, too.” Seán muttered, eyes out the window, gaze a million miles away. “We have to find him. Save him if we can. Stop him if…” he cut himself off, shaking his head. “You still need to explain to the police what happened.”

              “Okay.” Chase said. And he sounded so tired.

 

\-----

              

              “Okay, here’s your last question. Just to confirm the order of events; you were walking home from the store, heard a woman’s scream, and followed it to the scene of the crime. You didn’t recognize who the attacker was until after you stepped in, hoping to stop him, and you realized it was you brother. He attacked you, you didn’t and/or couldn’t stop him, but before you could die that’s when the Spider showed up.” The cop flipped a paper. “He fought you brother off, who attempted to flee, the Spider following. That’s when you called 911, and panicking from blood loss and shock, hung up when they asked if you saw the attacker. That’s when you made your way to the nearest hospital, but you can’t remember how you go there.”

              Chase nodded. “Y-Yeah… that’s right.” he answered. He would have prefered to leave Spider-Man out of his story entirely- but there was webbing in the alleyway from the fight, which the police had already found. Hearing that fact when he’d first started talking to the police had cleared up Jackie’s anger at Spider-Man, earlier today. Across from him, the cop nodded.

              “Alright, you’re free to go.” the cop said, gesturing to the door. Chase stood- it was a small room, just the table, a couple chairs, and the mirror he couldn’t see out of. When he left out the only door, Seán was waiting for him, leading him back out of the halls and back into what Chase assumed was the main area of this hero agency, desks covering the floor and people running papers back and forth. He glanced past them, towards a man drinking coffee near what seemed to be a little side room acting as the break room- oh. Seán waved to him, and Schneeplestein looked up, instantly looking at Chase as if he’d had a beacon on his head. Ah, shit.

              He followed behind Seán into the break room, just as Schneep put his cup down.

              “Firsht of all.” Schneep pushed his chair back and stood, gesturing towards Chase’s injured side. “vey zee _fuck_ didn’t you call me?! Zee firsht zink zat you chould hafe done ven you got out of zee hoshpital vas call me, and zee second was too not leave zee hoshpital while you vere shtill injured!” Ah, right. This was what an angry Schneep looked like. Chase mentally tracked the shortest route out of the hero agency, in case he needed to escape. “Oh no you don’t- I know zat face, Brody. If you so much as take a _shtep_ tovards zose doors, I vill break your legs myself so zat I can heal you.”

              Schneep jabbed a finger towards a chair. “Now, _sit_.”

              Chase was in the chair so fast one could have believed that Schneep had a mind control ability as well. Schneep gestured towards him to lift his shirt, which Chase also did, exposing his bandaging. He realized, to his surprise, that even these ones were starting to get bloody. He might have, uh, pulled something during the fight. Schneep lifted his hand, which began to glow with a soft green glow that somehow seemed calming instead of ‘toxic’ or ‘radioactive’, hovering it over Chase’s side.

              He could feel Schneep’s power pouring into him- from what he understood, it was less of a ‘heal all’ ability and more of a ‘pump the body full of energy so it’s natural healing abilities were superchargered’, and Chases healing abilities were _already supposed to be supercharged_ , so needless to say… Schneep using his powers on Chase was a _rush_. Any trace of being tired went soaring out the window as it took every ounce of Chase’s self control not to go bolting around the room at that very moment.

              Schneep’s brow narrowed in concentration. “Vell… zat’s not good. Seán, help me remove zese bandages- I need to get to zee vound directly.” Schneep ordered, snapping his fingers a couple times- Chase recognized that tick. Schneep was puzzled by something. Together, Schneep and Seán unwrapped the bandages around his wound, Chase holding his shirt up as the buzz slowly started to sink out of his head. Than, Schneep lit up his hand again, placing the gloved apandage right onto his wound. He jerked back from the spike of pain that came with it, but Seán held hs side, rubbing his shoulder in a comforting way. He bit his lip, watching as Schneep’s power… did literally nothing to his injury.

              Shaking his head, Schneep began to rewrap his injured side with slow, steady hands. “Somezink… is _very_ vrong here. Vee _need_ to find zee Doctor zat stopped zee bleeding in zee first place.” he muttered, seemingly more to himself than to the others. Chase had to agree- that didn’t sound good _at all_ . He hoped that the doctor that saved his life hadn’t gotten- _killed_ or _kidnapped_ for figuring out how to stop this weird, unknown poison, even if only briefly. He paused, a sudden thought popping into his head.

              “Have you guys asked Mark?” he asked, receiving odd glances, so he elebroted, “The doc that helped me was Mark’s brother- and I mean that in the ‘I would have thought they were twins’ sorta way. There was no mistaking it.”

              “Dr. Iplier?” Seán asked, surprised. “Wait… _that’s_ who were looking for? Well… I’ll go make sure the investigator guys know that- Abe’s been hitting dead ends just to find the _name_ of the guy who operated on you.” he explained, than disappeared in a flash of green electricity. Chase spotted a few loose papers go flying, the only clue that he had just run through the building.

              “Chase.” Schneep’s hand was on his shoulder, making him look back at the good doctor. “Are you- _sure_ you’re okay?” he asked. Chase winced- Schneep’s hand tightened on his shoulder, and Chase knew he felt it.

              “Yeah- I… as well as I can be.” he shrugged. “It’s been... a lot’s happened in the last couple days. But I’m fine, for now- I’m worried about Seán- how he’s handling the news.”

              “Of course you are.” Schneep smiled, shaking his head. “Zat’s zee problem viz our family, isn't it? Alvays vorried about each ozher, not ourselves.”

              Chase nodded- and that’s about the moment when the yelling picked up, and their quiet moment was shattered. He jerked his gaze back to the main area, where everyone was gathering around a screen that had briefly just been silently displaying the weather. Someone must have hit the volume- or maybe it someone changed itself, because the tv wasn’t silent anymore. Static came first- than a familiar laugh, glitched and broken and widely changing up and down in tone. Schneep was already on the move by the time Chase got up, rushing next to him to see the screen for himself.

              Jack was standing in the middle of train station, the whole screen glitching the same way he was. In all honesty, you couldn’t even tell it was _just_ him glitching- not that _that’s_ where the eye went right away. Surrounding Jack, tied up and on their knees, was a group of civilians. Chase gulped, looking back up at Jack- and he swore Jack was looking right back at him, than his eyes flicked to the side, where Schneep was standing- than his head jerked so fast to the side, as grin spreading across his face, that Chase turned his head in real life to see what he was looking at. His breath caught when he saw Seán and Marvin, almost literally making eye contact with Jack through the screen.

              “He̵roes̵,” Jack said, returning his gaze to the camera. He must have hacked into the television feed- he _knew_ they were watching him. “Se̛n̷d a̕ņy̨o̶n̛e ̢oth͠er ̸th҉an ͢my͏ f̧a͜m̕i͢l̕y,̸ ͝and̢ ȩv͡er̨yone ͟h̸er̴e̢ ͡ḑies͞.̧ An͟d͏ jus̶t͟ ̸to ̡b̵e _cl͘e͏a͘r͏_ , i͜n̴ ͡cas̕e yo͜u st͏ill̷ a͏r̕en'̨t͡ ge͟t͝ting i̡t-” the static and glitches stopped so suddenly, it didn’t seem real. Suddenly it was just Jack standing there- and Chase relized, for the first time, that there was a bleeding cut across his neck. “My name is Jack Simon McLoughlin- you know, the wanna-be hero you guys abandoned when I dug a little too deep?” he laughed, and it was still just as insane sounding as it did when it had been literally broken. “It’s _Anti_ now.”

              “Septic, Marv, Schneep-” Jack’s eyes flicked back to Chase’s spot, the same moment the glitches came back. “Cha̛s͠e̷r. Į ̛e͜xpect̕ ҉to͝ ̸s̕e͝e͠ ͘all of͝ ̕y͡o҉u ̸heŗe̡, ̷w̕i͠t͢hi̛n̡.̛..̶ ̷let̨'͠s͜ say,͟ ͡th͏ir͞ty͢ ͠min̢u̡tes,̢ ͘or̷ I'm ̸goin͡g ̶to ͠s͡tart c̴u̶tt҉in̛g̛ ̛t̡hro̷a̢ts.͠ A̡nd I'll s̡ave͞ th҉e be̶s͘t̸ ͏for ̶la̢şt͟~.” He reached down, grabbing one of the- oh no. Jameson was yanked up to stand by Ja- Anti, fear in his eyes. “Bett̕er͏ hu͢rry͢,̶ J͞a҉y ̨Jay ͠h̷eŗe ͢doesn'͏t̡ have̕ ҉t͟h̷at m͏a̵ny̡ ͘pe̴op̕l͞e͏ ̡i͜n ̛lin̡e̷ ̨a̢hea͞d̵ of him̛~” the final childhood nickname falling from his lips like a slap in the face, hi swords followed by static, and then a large crack appearing across the screen. Chase felt frozen- while everyone else seemed to come to life.

              He barely even registered what all the people shouting around him were saying- instead he watched as Jackie and Marvin- both already in their heroes costumes, probably via Marvin’s help, crossed the room towards them. This was really happening, Chase thought to himself. This was _real_.

              “I can’t teleport straight to the station.” Marvin said, shaking his head. “I tried to send a card there- it felt like I was poking an electric fence. I can get us close, but we’ll have to run the rest of the way there.”

              “Ve’re not _really_ bringing Chase, are vee?” Schneep asked, tilting his head towards their brother. “He’s injured enough vithout bringing him in for a rematch against Jack. Or- Anti, vatever he’s calling himself now. ”

              “Of course not-” Jackie began, but Chase didn’t let him finish that sentence.

              “You can’t-” Chase cut himself off, wincing to himself before continuing, missing the concerned glance Jackie sent his way. “You can’t leave me behind- you heard Jack! If I don’t show up…” he paused, trying to think of something to convince them. “I could just… stick by Marvin, and if anything happens he could _poof_ me away!”

              Marvin shook his head. “If I can’t teleport in, I won’t be able to teleport anything _out_ . You’re safest _here_ \- we’ll stop Jack, we promise.”

              “Or save him.” Jackie muttered under his breath, to which Marvin sent him an unsure glance, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he held out his hands, Jackie and Schneep taking one each.

              “Vait here Chase… doctor’s orders.” Schneep ordered, before the three disappeared.

              Well- he never _was_ good at listening to what he was told, now was he?

 

\-----

 

              “There it is.” Marvin called out.

              Jackie nodded, eyes on the train station in front of them, lowering himself from the sky. In the end, with two of them otherwise forced to run on foot, Jackie’s flying had won out as the fastest way to reach the station before too much time passed. He was carrying Schneep in his arms, bridal style, while Marvin clung to his back. Marvin was the first one to leap off, while they were still a foot from the ground, while Schneep didn’t stop clinging to Jackie like his life depended on it until Jackie’s feet were firmly planted on the ground and he peeled Schneeps hands off his hero suit.

              “Stay behind us, doc.” Jackie said, eyes on the station. He cracked his knuckles, sparks of green flying. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Marvin pull out his card deck, and Schneep step out of the way. He took one moment, one breath, and then he was up the stairs and throwing open the door, stepping into-

              Into-

              Oh _no_ -

              It was a bloodbath.

              Jack stood in the middle of the bodies, blood dripping off his knife, his hand, around his feet. He giggled when he saw them, gesturing around him. “L͏o͞ok a̧t ̨thąt̡-̡ ̴You're h̕e͝r͟e so͢o͝ner̕ t̛h͡a͘n I͢ t̨hou̕g̷h̨t̷,” he said, his whole body glitching- now Jackie understood what Chase had meant when he’d described him, when suddenly the whole room flashed green and he saw _them_ \- screaming, bleeding out, in _pain_ as Jack danced from body to body, slitting throats and driving his blade between their ribs. There was a flash of a lighter green- less sickly, more _colorful_ , and one of Marvin’s cards was flying through the illusion- the memory- _whatever_ it was, destroying it and returning them to the aftermath.

              Jack clicked his tongue, alarmingly calm as he watched Marvin, searching his face for a second as he ran his finger up his knife. Than he turned his gaze back to Jackie, tilting his head- his body glitched, and Jackie caught sight of more ‘versions’ of Jack, one cutting it’s own throat, one clutching it’s hair, and then they disappeared, leaving the single Jack that was watching him. “Y̛ou ̸fo͡rgot ̸someơn͜e, ̸I see.” he mused.

              “Ve’re not bringing Chase _back_ to you after you _stabbed_ him once already, you fuckar!” Schneep snapped from the backline. “Besides- _vey_ vould vee brink him out _now_?”

              “O͞h,̶ an̛d̢ here ҉I͠ t͠hoųgh͞t ͘yo͞u͢ c̶a̴r̡ed͞ ͜a̷b͠o̕ut ͠o̡n͟e͠ ͡of t̛h͟e̴se ͟peo͡pl͝e͠,̸ a̡t t̷he͠ ͝l̛eas͢t̕.̢” Jack stepped to the side, exposing JJ, still alive and bound, staring mutely up at them from the floor with mute horror. ͢”And̸ ̵clȩar̕ly,͢ it̵ i̵s̢n't m͏e.” Jack added, kneeling by JJ and running his fingers through JJ’s hair, _petting_ him.

              “Let him go, Jack!” Jackie yelled, taking several steps forward, electricity sparking to life, only to freeze when Jack slammed JJ’s head into the ground, knife at his throat- but not cutting, not yet.

              “ _M҉Y͘͏ ͟͡N̛͞AM̸̡̛E͟͏_ ,” Jack hissed, the static in his voice worse. “I͡s.͜ ̴ ̳ͯ̒Ȃ͍̝̩͕͉̪̯̂͞N̥̫̣̥̮̕T̨ͣ̓̌̎͌̋I̩̜͚̘̿͞.̕͞ ̧ _N̢͢͠o̶t͟_ J̗̟̫̞̼̪A̤͙̼͉͎̗̔ͣͣ͆̃̚C̴͖̙̤͍K̼̳̭͘.̡͢ ̴̵”

              “Anti _what_?” asked a new voice.

              It was right about the time a line- a _web_ , hit Anti’s knife, yanking it up. Anti refused to let go- resulting in him struggling to yank the knife back by it’s handle as a second line of webbing hit JJ, pulling him out of harm's way as the one connected to the knife went slack, sending Anti flying back onto the ground. Spider-Man lowered himself from the ceiling, one hand on a line of his web, the other holding onto JJ. “Cause, if you say it’s short for _Anti-Septic,_ I swear I’m going to lose my mind. What kind of villain name is that for a… haunted computer virus... demon’ thing?”

              “What the _fuck_ are you doing here?” Jackie called over.

              “What?” Spider-Man tilted his head, letting JJ down back onto the floor- he bolted straight into Marvin’s arms, who pulled him back, towards Schneep. “What do you _think_ I’m gonna do? Just _walk away_ and let this guy keep killing people?” He pointed at Anti, who was getting back up, moving like he didn’t quite have control over his limbs. “I came here to _stop_ him, _duh_.”

              Jackie clenched his fists as his own words were thrown back at him- but no wasn’t the time to fight another hero. “Just- You fought him once before, right? Help us bring him down.” he snapped, to which Spider-Man gave a nod and quick salute, dropping back to the floor and spinning in midair to land on his feet. He landed mostly on his left leg, but Jackie ignored that. Who cared if he’d hurt a foot, or something?

              “Oh,͝ _͟go͡od_ . ͡Iţ's͢ ti͞m͠e ͢fo͠r ͏th͡e FU͞N͟ p͡art͠.͠ ” Anti giggled, before his form glitched and his mood was replaced with anger, sharply turning back to shout “T̕hat'͞s͞ _YOUR͟ c͜u̧e̸_ , a̢i̡rhead!!”

              “Oops!” said- oh _fuck_ no- Warfstache appeared at the top of the station steps, adjusting his shirt. “Sorry ‘bout that! Seems I got caught up in a little _reporters business_ , if you know what I mean.” he added a wink at the end, which seemed to be an entire face expression for him, complete with a head tilt and lifting his shoulders up, grin stretched across his face.

              “No,͢ and I ͠don'͞t ҉g͢i͢ve ̴a͡ ͡sh̷it͜.͡” Anti grumbled, “W̢h̨er͟e th͘e̷ _͏FUCK͞_ is͠ ͝D͠a͘rk?”

              “Oh, that’s right!” Warfstache perked up, holding up a ‘one moment’ finger. “He got really busy and couldn’t make it, so it’s just the two of us!”

              “Dark?” Marvin asked, glancing at the others. Everyone else seemed equally confused- well, he couldn’t see Spider-Man’s face, but he shrugged. “Who’s Dark?” he muttered, intending that question to just be for himself. He was trying to jog his memory- see if he could recall anyone being referred to by that adjective.

              “Well, you see,” Warfstache began, slinging an arm around Marvin’s shoulders. “When the light gets _very_ low and an edgelord loves her sweetheart of a brother, sometimes they fuse-”

              Wherever the fuck that sentence was going was cut off by Marvin’s scream, yanking himself away from Warfstahce like he was a giant pink spider and throwing a random card onto the ground between them- he hadn’t stopped to see which card it was, but when a table appeared between them, he didn’t hesitate to flip it into Warfstache’s face. Oh, so he couldn’t teleport _people_ , but _objects_ were okay?!

              “Marvin-” Jackie moved to rush towards him, only to catch sight of a blade slashing through the air towards him out of the corner of his eye. He ducked- the knife flew over his head, and Anti grinned down at him.

              “I̴ ca̵n'̸t͞ ̴t̶el͜l y͡ou ho̵w ͝lo͘ng̨ I'v͟e ͞wa͏n̶t̸ed ͘to҉ do ̶thįs~!” Anti giggled, turning the knife downwards towards Jackie- so Jackie kicked Anti’s feet out from under him, knocking his twin to his back. He pulled his arm back and moved to punch him- hoping to knock Anti out before either of them got hurt, only for Anti to _glitch_ and his hand to pass right through him, before he disappeared all together.

              He heard the broken, glitchy giggle behind him a moment later. He was in the middle of turning when that sound was joined by two _thwips_ , webs appearing at either side of them before Spider-Man literally flung himself into the battle, slamming into Anti feet first. This time the hit connected, sending Anti back and Spider-Man landing on tip of him, before he back flipped off to land by Jackie’s side.

              “Stay alive over there, Jackie-Boy.” Spider-Man quipped, not even looking at Anti anymore- he spun suddenly kicking outward, and his heel connected with- when _the fuck_ had Anti teleported behind him?

              “You’re the one who’s fought him before!” Jackie snapped, flinging electricity towards Anti. His target disappeared, and Spider-Man was forced to jump back with a ‘hey!’. “Care to give me a few pointers over here?!” he demanded. Spider-Man spun towards him, firing a web at his chest- Jackie immediately brought his hand up to try and remove it cause _what the fuck, again_? When Spider-Man yanked him forward and out of the way of Anti’s next attack.

              “Well, for one, stop _screaming_ . You can _hear_ where he’s glitching towards. Also, when he’s glitching your attacks will just go right through him, so don’t go throwing you fists randomly.” He webbed a nearby trash can, yanking it around and through Anti, who stopped glitching to laugh- only for the trashcan to sweep back from the other way and slam into his side, sending him flying with the trash. “Also, he’s got quite the ego on him.”

              These aren't his powers. Jackie thought to himself. But their _damn_ close. Something _happened_ to him. He glanced back at the fight between Marvin and Warfstache- just in time to see Marvin trap Warfstache in a glowing green ball, which he started rolling around in like an out of control hamster. He seemed... fine on his own. He turned back and threw himself back into his own fight, electricity flaring to life around him.

              Behind him, Warfstache’s fun came to a sudden end when the magician guy whatever-his-name summoned more objects from his cards- blocks of cement that looked like they’d been pulled from destroyed buildings from a previous villains attack, and a literal brick wall, trapping him in place when he wasn’t able to roll in any direction. He frown, knocking on the edge of the sphere- it seemed fairly strong.

              He twisted the edge of his trademark pink mustache. This could work out better than he’d planned. He grinned at the magician, winking and mouthing a ‘thank you’ through the bubble, digging around in his pocket to pull out a small, black box. He flipped it open, to reveal the single red button on the inside- which he had no trouble hitting, setting off the explosions he’d set up around the buildings support beams.

 

\-----

 

              Marvin stumbled through the rubble of the half destroyed building, using his powers to push away the smoke and dust swirling around him. Whatever force had been stopping him from teleporting was gone- he could feel it’s abstinence like a heavy blanket had been removed from his shoulders, but he couldn’t _go_ anywhere until he made sure his family was safe. His power was stretched out as far as he could get it to reach, searching for any sign of his brothers- Anti’s warped power seemed to be everywhere, a low _buzz_ in the air that set the hairs on his arm up.

              His pause faltered- _there_ . He slipped his cards away into his sleeves, ducking past a warped steel beam and slipping under some of the rubble that had piled up on when it fell- also creating a little cave of sorts, largely hidden from sight. He already knew he’d find Schneep inside from the echo of him using his powers- what he wasn’t prepared for was seeing who he was using his powers _on_ , Jackie sprawled out on the ground, breathing ragged, a twisted metal bar sticking straight through his leg. He felt himself draw in a sharp breath, not quite a gasp- that wouldn’t heal all the way, even with Schneep’s help.

              Right now, it looked like Schneep was focusing on Jackie’s chest, glancing up when Marvin entered but not relaxing. He glanced behind Marvin, who already knew who he was looking for before he spoke up. “JJ?” Schneep asked, voice a whisper. Marvin didn’t say anything because he didn’t _know-_

              Someone was outside. He drew his cards back out, one in each hand, watching the entrance as he slowly back away from it, listening closely He could hear the soft scuffle of feet, than someone landed right outside the entrance- two someones. Marvin caught a glimpse- oh. He put his cards back away as JJ ducked into their little hidey hole, followed by Spider-Man. Spider-Man hovered near the entrance, not coming closer.

              JJ edged closer, looking from Marvin to Schneep to Jackie, rubbing his hands together nervously, before he simply dropped down to the floor, curling on himself as his shoulders shook with silent sobs. Marvin was literally by his side in an instant, arms wrapping around his cousin. JJ didn’t deserve _anything_ that had happened to him, that he’d seen- Anti never had any reason to drag JJ in unless it was purely to _hurt_ him. At this point, Marvin didn’t believe there was a scrap of Anti left in that _thing_.

              “You can teleport, again.” Spider-Man noted. Marvin nodded at him, silent. “And he,” Spider-Man gestured at Jamie. “Needs to get somewhere _safe_ . Jackieboy back there needs medical attention, while Schneep’s the only one who can keep him stable long enough to _get_ it. But…” he faltered for a second. “Neither of those two lunatics are just gonna let you walk out of here. I saw them while I was getting Jamie here, Anti was screaming at Warfstache. Don’t think he knew about the explosions. As soon as their done, they’re gonna come looking for us.”

              “So, vat do you suggest?” Schneep asked.

              “I distract them. Marvin warps you guys out of here. After the explosion, whatever was keeping the hero agency away is officially over.” Spider-Man explained. “You guys get to help as fast as you can.”

              “Facing them alone is _suicide_ .” Marvin whispered, seemingly unable to pull his voice any higher. Either cause he was afraid of being overheard in the otherwise quiet of the destroyed building, or cause JJ was clinging to him so tightly. There _had_ to be a better plan than that- gears started to turn in his head.

              “Yeah,” Spider-Man shrugged, a hand on his side. “So don’t waste it, okay?”

              Jackie couldn’t stop staring at the wound. Blood was seeping into his outfit, but there was no cut, no tear on the outfit. He was just… _bleeding_ from his right side, just below the ribs. He pulled his gaze up, searching the mask as if looking for something. He pushed himself up by his elbows, trying to sit up. Schneep’s hand was on his chest, gently pushing him back down, and instead he clung to his arm, using is to pull himself up.

              “C-Chase.” he gasped.

              “Chase is fine.” Schneep promised, voice soft and assuring. No, he didn’t _understand_ -

              Jackie tried to speak again, only to end up coughing. Schneep tried to push him down- he pushed Schneep’s hand away, looking up, directly at Spider-Man. He could see the masked hero freeze, was sure even before he coughed out “ _Chase._ ” a second time, desperation creeping into his tone.

              For a second, Spider-Man considered feigning confusion, along with everyone else. The next second, he was removing his mask. He literally felt the confidence fly out of his body as he removed that layer between himself and the rest of the world, his shoulders slumping and the need to fidget arising. He twisted the mask in his hands, glancing from one stunned face to the next, before finally landing back on Jackie.

              “What the fuck.” Marvin whispered.

              “Vat _the FUCK_.” Schneep whisper-yelled.

              JJ pulled away from Marvin enough to use his hands- holding them out, palms up, shoulders squared, than to one hand rubbing his thumb and index finger together, which immediately turning into him dropping that hand, thumb index and middle fingers extended, into his other hand mimicking the same finger gesture. He followed it by pulling his hands back in another shrug, looking at Chase in utter confusion. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he had just signed.

              “Chase.” Jackie shook his head, yanking his own mask off with a shaking hand- and suddenly it was just Chase and Seán, eye to eye. “What the fuck.” he asked softly

              “I-” Chase began, and than faltered, closing his mouth. In all the situations he’d imaged where he ended up taking off his mask in front of his family, this was certainly not one of them. Than, somewhere further back in the destroyed building, a gunshot rang out, a _very_ sharp reminder about what they were up against. The mask was back on in an instint, Chase Brody hiding behind Spider-Man. “You have you go, _now_.” he hissed, senses spread as far as they could reach for any and all approaching danger.

              “No!” Seán snapped. “N-Not without _you_.”

              Spider-Man shook his head. “You guys will _die_ if you stay here- the city _needs_ you. Who gives a _fuck_ about me?”

              “We do!” three people whisper shouted, and one signed.

              “Besides,” Marvin stood up, summoning three cards from his sleeves, allowing them to hover in front of him with a soft green glow. “I have a better plan- but I’m gonna need one of you web thingies.”

 

\-----

 

              “So, if I were to… say, stick jumper cables to you, would you say you’d be electrocuted or drain the car battery?” Warfstache asked, giving Anti a little nudge on the side. “Or perhaps it’d be a closed circuit.”

              “W͘h͝y͜ ̴don͟'t ͏y̧o͘ư ͏ _s̡hut̴ t͠he͟ FUCK U͢P_ ̨an͘d̨ he͏lp _FI͞ND_ ̵t̕h͞em͝ ͝alr̴e̛ad̸y?” Anti snapped, fondly thinking of stabbing Warfstache. If _only_. “W̕h͢at th̕e̢ f̴u̕ck did yơu t͜h̸i̵nk̸ ̧t͘ho͟se̴ bo͟mb͏s͢ wer͞e ev͘ęn͞ ͢goi̶ng ̴t̕o̢ D͢O͞,̧ h̢u̧h?̢” he grumbled under his breath, glitching past some support beams to see if any heroes were hiding behind them. He glitched back a second later, empty handed and no less happier.

              “Maybe they’re dead.” Warfstache suggested happily, firing three shots randomly into the rubble. At first, nothing but smoke rose up from the places he’d fired- than he saw a streak of green, and a web line hit his gun and yanked it out of his hand, flinging it off into the distant rumble where he heard it go off another time on it’s own. Ah, that was a good gun.

              “Fưck͞i̶ng ͠ _F̢I̢NA͢LLY_!” Anti growled, raising his knife- out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Jackie leaping from the rubble, every bit the hero society had made him out to be, immediately zeroing in on him. He leapt at Seán, feeling the tug a too little too late, the web attacked to his back sending him flying straight into Warfstache before he could glitch himself free. He let out a string of colorful swears at that.

              Under him, Warfstache whistled. “Wow, you could give Spidey a run for his money with that money, buster. Also, you could at least take me to _dinner_ before getting all _cozy_.”

              Anti jumped off Warfstache and _heavily_ considered kicking him. In the end he turned away, choosing to instead focus on the fight. He spotted Marvin circling the edge of the battle- no doubt trying to strategize while Jackie and Chase kept the two of them distracted with their more ‘flashy’ powers. A moment to look, a planned forming, and Anti felt himself grinning before he launched himself at Chase, knife raised to strike. He saw him raise the web shooter, fire- and Anti glitched away, appearing behind Marvin in an instant and driving the knife into his back.

              It broke straight through with literally no resistance, Marvin’s form flashing and disappearing with a soft ‘pop’, leaving nothing but a playing card on the end of his knife. Anti stared at it, silently for several tense seconds, before raising his gaze back to the other two. He threw his knife at Jackie- who didn’t even _try_ to dodge before the knife hit him, popping the illusion and leaving a second card impaled on his knife.

              “Oh! Clever boys!” Warfstache chirped, pulling a second gun out of who-the-fuck knows where, and shooting the now obviously fake Chase. And _fucking_ somehow, he managed to shoot the ace of hearts right through the center. It, along with one of Chases web shooters, fell to the ground. Anti watched them fall, the web shooter rolling across the floor, past him and Warfstache, hitting the far wall and clattering to the ground. It spun as if fell, seemingly just to make as much noise as it possibly could, before finally settling on the ground and going silent.

              Anti started screaming.

 

\-----

 

              It was only after they were sure that neither Anti or Warfstache was going to try and follow them, and Marvin was in the middle of setting up the jump that would teleport them to, that Chase attempted to use his remaining web shooter to zip out of the situation. He made it all of two feet before green scissors appeared by his web, cutting it and sending him crashing back to the rooftop, where he rolled and clutched his side. _Fucking OW_.

              “Chase.” Marvin said.

              Chase ignored him, standing and walking calmly towards the edge of the roof, as if it would be as simple as as jumping off and wall crawling himself somewhere else. He wasn’t surprised when a green wall appeared to block his path- he also knew he could break Marvin’s projections if he just hit it hard enough.

              “Chase, we’ve got to talk about this.” Marvin said. Chase could hear his footsteps approaching.

              “No.” said, letting his forehead hit the green wall in front of him.

              “Chase.” Marvin repeated.

              “Fine.” Chase sighed. He let Marvin lead him back over to the group, this time waiting patiently while Marvin reworked his teleportation trick. He closed his eyes, hand on his wound, trying to just stay calm. And internally failing, but he _looked_ calm. A moment later he felt like the world had just been ripped out from under him and someone had suckered punched his gut. He’d never understood how Marvin ‘got used’ to teleporting- although it probably helped not to do so while one had a giant, poisoned wound on his side.

              He opened his eyes to realize that Marvin had warped them straight back to Schneep’s private clinic. He watched everyone else moving around, trying to figure out why they looked and sounded like everyone was underwater- oh. Yeah. Blood lose. He glanced down at his side, peeling his hand away from his suit to look at the blood stain slowly spreading across his suit. That- really didn’t look good, did it?

              There was a hand on his shoulder. He glanced back up to find Schneep standing across from him, moving his mouth as he said.. _Something_. Chase lost whatever it was supposed to be under a sea of ‘v’s and ‘za’s, and an incredibly strong feeling of deja vu. He was vaguely aware of someone tugging on his arm, and then he hit the floor. That felt better- less woozy.

              His mask was removed, and suddenly everything was Way Too Bright. He’d completely forgotten that filter was even there.

              Ow- what was in his arm-

 

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              Chase woke to a familiar sound, but feeling a lot heavier and a lot more numb than he had the first time. He focused on the steady beeping of the heart monitor, feeling a strange sensation, like he was settling back into his body. It was annoyingly slow- but he also couldn’t seem to get that worked up about it. Probably whatever cocktail of drugs that was swirling around in his systems.

              By the time he’d finally managed to open his eyes, it felt like an hour had passed. It probably didn’t _really_ take that long- but still. He was in a hospital bed- no surprise there, and he still seemed to be in Schneep’s clinic. He turned his head to the side, half expecting to see Seán still sitting in a chair besides him. Instead he spotted him a few feet away, asleep in his own hospital bed. Seán didn’t have the same IV’s hooked into his arm that Chase did.

              “Avake, are vee?” Schneep’s voice cut in. Chase managed to push himself up- he wasn’t stopped, and he didn’t really feel any pain. Schneep was nearby, straightening tools on a little wheel-able tray. They didn’t really look like they needed to be straightened further. “Vell?”

              “How-” Chase cleared his throat. “How’s Seán?”

              “He’s fine. Healing fast. Don’t vorry about him- zere’s someone else you chould be more vorried about.” Schneep added, quick and sharp. Chase flinched, looking away.

              “Jamie?” he guessed again.

              “He’s… goink zrough zerapy. But not him eizer, Chase.” Schneep turned around, facing Chase for the first time since he woke up, crossing his arms and tapping his fingers along one arm. “Vhy don’t you guess again.”

              “...” Chase kneaded the blanket under his fingers. “... you?” he asked, quietly, unsure.

              Schneep sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I svear Chase, you’re zee vorst patient I’ve effer had. It’s _you_ , you chould be at leasht a _little_ concerned how _you are_ doing.”

              “Oh.” Chase squeaked. He glanced down, pulling down the blanket- Schneep had given him a soft, abit thin blue shirt and pants instead of the normal hospital gown, and he pulled up the shirt to see his wound. It was… better, _way_ better. The gaping stab wound from before was now only replaced with a thin red line- it occured to Chase that the reason he couldn’t feel any pain was because he didn’t _have_ any in the first place. “How…?” he glanced back up at Schneep, his question unasked.

              “Vee looked into Dr. Iplier.” Schneep huffed, looking away. “Vee found _years_ vorth of incriminatink evidence on him, including zee fact he _made_ zee poison zat had been on Anti’s knife. Vee vere able to reverse engineer a cure, but zat ‘doctor’ remains missing. Even-” he gestured to Chase’s side. “Even vat he did for you vas just to delay zee poison- it vas alvays goink to kick back into effect.”

              “Oh- Mark must be taking this pretty hard, huh?” Chase asked.

              “Very. Now- stop changink zee subject.” Schneep dragged a chair over Chase’s bed, sitting down on it backwards so that he could rest his arms on the back of the chair. “Vee already asked you _vat_ zee fuck, Chase. But now- _vhy zee fuck_ didn’t you tell us?”

              Chace flinched.

              “I had… several reasons.” he admitted.

              “Try me.” Schneep responded, automatically.

              “Okay- well um, it started as an accident.” Chase shrugged. “These extra powers- they didn’t develop _naturally_ , per say, it was more like I, uh, I gotbittenbyaradioactivespider?” he rushed. Schneep didn’t react, so he cleared his throat and kept going. “Instead of… I don’t know, getting cancer or something, I got the wall cimbing and a sixth sense and- well, I make the webbing by hand, but the recipies been in my head ever since I got bitten. And then things just kinda snowballed- everyone seemed to _hate_ me for the longest time when I first showed up, the news didn’t warm up for me until the public did, and _Seán_ -” he cut himself off, glancing back over at Seán’s bed.

              Schneep put his hand on Chase’s shoulder, making him jump. “Seán dosin’t hate you, Chase.” Schneep promised. “Now, what else?”

              “I, uh…” Chase shrugged, turning his attention back to Schneep and away from Seán. “I promise, I don’t mean this as a slight against any of you, it’s just… if people knew I was Spider-Man, they’d make snap judgments about me without ever getting to _know_ me. I had to _earn_ being liked as Spider-Man… if I told people my last name, they would have just gone ‘oh, okay’ and not given me a second thought.”

              “And, uh… I had to earn being liked as Chase, too.” he sighed. “If people found out who I was, no one would give a shit about why I started my youtube channel anymore- they wouldn’t even care about the contant. They’d just show up to see a Spider-Man, in the flesh.”

              “Alright, I undershtand.” Schneep tilted his head towards Seán’s bed. “Vat about you, Seán? You have anyzink to say?”

              Seán groaned, rubbing a hand down his face and sitting up. “Gonna give away all my secrets, doc?” he asked, his voice light and teasing. Chase almost bolted, if not for Schneep’s hand on his arm. Seán looked over at Chase, frowning and his shoulders slumping. “I- Chase, _look_ . I don’t- I never _hated_ you. Marvin was right- I was too harsh on you, but in all fairness, _you_ have a license, and I just never knew _you_ were Spider-Man.”

              Chase nodded, looking slightly to the left of Seán and not responding. From the corner of his eye, he could see Seán and Schneep exchange a knowing look.

              “Hey, Chase? Look at me.” Seán called softly. Chase didn’t want to- but it was clear the conversation wasn’t going to go anywhere until he _did_ . “That’s not all of it, is it? There’s another reasons you didn’t tell us- and it has to do with _Jack_ , dosin’t it? You thought we’d force you to stop before you disappeared, too.”

              “I knew.” Chase whispered, dropping his eyes back to the hospital sheets. “I knew and I _helped_ him sneak out, or patched him up so no one noticed when he got hurt, or gave him a place to store anything he needed. I thought he’d been _killed_ \- but guess what? It’s worse than that.”

              A moment of silence- Chase assumed they must have finally realized what a fuck up he really was. Then there were footsteps, a weight besides him on the bed, and Seán was wrapping his arms around him, with no hesitation.

              “It’s not your fault.” Seán muttered to him. “You _know_ Jack- if you hadn’t helped him, he’d have done it on his own, or gotten someone else- you _can’t_ blame yourself for what happened to Jack, because _you_ _never_ did anything to try and turn him into Anti. And Anti? That’s not even Jack. Not by a long shot.”

              Chase nodded- even though he didn’t really believe it _wasn’t_ his fault, there was so much more he could have done- and just fell into silence. Schneep put his hand over Chases. Seán kept hugging him. Chase wished he could just cry, or something. At least that would feel like he was getting _something_ off his chest.

              In the end, it was the sound of the clinic door opening and shutting itself, and approaching footsteps, that broke up the mood. Marvin appeared in their little back corner a moment later, glancing between them and his gaze landing on a now awake Chase. He disappeared- reappearing besides his bed a moment later, pulling Chase into another hug.

              “Vee talked to him, already.” Schneep explained, to which Marvin nodded.

              “Did you ask him what he wanted to do yet?” Marvin asked, pulling back. Chase didn’t recognize what Marvin was asking about- Schneep shook his head at that, turning back to Chase.

              “Vee told everyone zat you followed us zere, vorried about Jack hurting ozers if you didn’t show.” Schneep explained. “Zey don’t even know Spider-Man vas _zere_. If you vant, you could just… keep you identity a secret, or tell everyone zee truth.”

               “I- thank you.” Chase felt a sense of relief- he’d assumed- “I’d… I’d rather keep it between us.”

              They nodded. Chase felt… well, huh. He felt sorta-okay for the first time in a long time. This was… nice.

              “Hey, Chase?” Marvin began. “You know you can tell us anything you need to, right? We’re always here for you, after all.”

              “Yeah, I guess- well, it’s not _just_ my secret, but I think after all this, you guys deserve to know.”  Chase shrugged. “So, um… I might not be the _only_ ‘spider’ person around. There was more than one radioactive spider, to put it simply.”

              “Shit, more secret spider-men?” Seán asked. “One’s so secret we didn’t even know they existed?”

              “Well… not exactly.” Chase felt the edge of his mouth twitch upwards in a smile. “Surely you guys have heard of the Silver Shepard?”


End file.
